Suspended in time: Haunting pictures inside tsunami exclusion zone after thousands fled following Japanese quake


Months after Japan's earthquake and tsunami, these images capture the eerie stillness of towns that lie broken and abandoned in the wake of the devastating natural disaster which left 20,000 dead or missing.



Photographer David Guttenfelder visited the exclusion zone in July - including the radiation-contaminated town of Okuma, a mile and a half from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant which went into meltdown following the catastrophe. It is unlikely residents will ever return.



At 2.46pm on March 11, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck 32 miles off Japan's north-east coast triggering massive waves. The natural disaster, the worst in Japan's history, flattened entire towns and the nuclear plant began spewing radiation when three reactors went into meltdown.



Last screening: A water mark cuts across the backs of seats at a planetarium in Namie, Japan after tsunami waves swept through the town

Destruction: Insurmountable heaps of debris cover the contaminated town of Namie which was flattened by the earthquake and tsunami which struck the country earlier this year

Lifeless: The sun rises in the abandoned town of Namie, near the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in July

Guttenfelder was one of only a handful of photographers who returned to the country in November after being allowed to visit the ravag ed nuclear facility. The meltdown at the plant has caused 70,000 citizens to be displaced from surrounding towns within 12 miles.



The majority of photographs, taken in July but which appeared in National Geographic this month, capture the sense of panic and confusion after people fled for their lives. Bedclothes are unmade where people have leapt up and half-eaten bowls of rice rot on tables.



Wearing a protective white suit, head gear and full breathing equipment, Guttenfelder was allowed a few minutes to photograph the lifeless area surrounding the plant.

The Japanese government has said the amount of radiation now being released around the plant is at or below 1 millisievert per year - equivalent to the annual legal exposure limit for ordinary citizens before the crisis began.

Guttenfelder told National Geographic: 'We also visited an emergency operation center near the reactors a rare chance to see the faces of the workers who risk their lives every day.



'Many were in a giant room sitting at computers monitoring the plant systems. Other laborers were resting on the floor in a locker room. Everyone looked exhausted.'



Displaced society: In June residents wearing protective suits listened to safety advice before returning to their homes in Hirono to collect small items before leaving the exclusion zone

Sheer force: Ships were dragged inland by the power of the tsunami along the north-east coast of Japan

Game over: The damaged gymnasium floor which sank after tsunami waves swept through a school in Namie, Japan on March 11 this year

Keep out: Police in protective gear guard a road into the nuclear exclusion zone near the city of Minami-Soma in Japan

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it generated flattened communities along hundreds of miles of coastline. The government has estimated the cost of damages from the disaster could grow to $310billion.

The Fukushima power plant was battered by the force of the water and spewed toxic radiation into the atmosphere, engulfing nearby homes.

'The scale of this - the entire coastline - makes it all so overwhelming.' Tsuneaki Fukui, civil engineering professor, University of Tokyo

The plant was only officially said to have reached a 'cold shutdown' and be no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation earlier this month.



Japan's prime minister Yoshihiko Noda made the announcement - but experts advised that the plant remains vulnerable to more problems and will take decades to decommission.

A report emerged yesterday that gave a damning verdict on Japan's response to the nuclear crisis. The 500-page document from industry regulators said authorities had grossly underestimated tsunami risks, assuming the highest wave would be 20 feet, when they in fact hit more than double those levels.



The leak at the Fukushima plant, which is run by Tokyo Electric Power Company, was the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

The government plans to spend at least 18 trillion yen ($234billion) over the next five years to fund the reconstruction. So far, the government has built 51,886 temporary houses - almost all of the 52,500 needed - in seven states affected by the disaster.

Fending for themselves: A pig feeds on radiation-contaminated goods in a deserted store while the carcass of a cow rots in a field

Poisoned: An abandoned basket of shopping can be seen in a grocery store in Futaba and packets of sweets litter the floor after the 9.0-magnitude quake struck

Precautions: One-time employees of the nuclear power plant bathe at an evacuation centre in Koriyama after being forced to abandon their homes within the exclusion zone

To help people better escape from future tsunamis, there were also plans to widen evacuation routes and increase the number of elevated shelters.

The biggest challenge facing the country at this point is balancing residents' demands to restore homes and jobs quickly while coming up with a viable long-term plan, said Tsuneaki Fukui, a civil engineering professor at the University of Tokyo who is helping the fishing port of Kesennuma with reconstruction.

'The scale of this - the entire coastline - makes it all so overwhelming,' he said. 'It's something even we professionals haven't ever encountered.'



The disaster left 15,839 dead and 3,647 missing, according to the official toll. The high number of missing is because the dead are only counted when a body is identified.

State of emergency: A bedding mat, chairs, slippers, empty bowls, cups, and food wrappers lie on the floor of the gymnasium at Karino Elementary School, which was used as an evacuation shelter shortly after the nuclear crisis erupted

Aftermath: Stray dogs fight in the deserted streets of Okuma, Japan where they were left to fend for themselves after owners fled the raging waters

Running for their lives: A duvet is thrown back from a futon in an abandoned home less than three miles from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant

No going back: Discarded shoes and bowls of rice in the radiation-contaminated town of Okuma where residents fled the nuclear reactors spewing radiation only three miles away





