In this gallery we compare the scenes immediately after the earthquake and tsunami hit eastern Japan, causing widespread death and destruction, with the same scenes six months later . Above, Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 16, 2011 (top) after the area was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami; on June 3, 2011; and September 1, 2011 (bottom) after much of the debris had been cleared.

Credit : REUTERS/Kyodo