Anguish and Hope

One family searches through the remains of their seaside home, hunting with calm resolve for any surviving possessions. It’s an experience shared by countless others.

In harbor towns hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami, residents worry that radioactive contamination of the seafood chain may cost them their livelihoods.

Students and teachers at Ookawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Japan, knew just what to do in an earthquake. Yet nearly 100 of them died as the tsunami swept in.

Hideaki Akaiwa, in Miyagi prefecture, has decided not to wait for rescue workers. With a scuba suit on, he waded through flooded streets to rescue his wife, and later his mother. He continues to look for more survivors.

One woman was able to stay in her vehicle as it rode atop the waves in Minamisanriku. Two others made it to higher ground and clung to a tree with all their strength. Thousands of others apparently were not so lucky.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan says he will convene a national post-quake council within 10 days; he later visits a devastated town on the northeast coast. U.S.-Japanese troops launch a wide-scale hunt for bodies.