two years ago an unprecedented emergency was unfolding in northeastern japan. towns and cities lay in ruin. residents were searching for lost loved ones, and crews were scrambling to control a nuclear plant few people in the world had ever heard of. in the days, weeks and months since the march 11th, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, survivors have been moving forward on a path to recovery. we're spending much of the day looking at how far they've come and the challenges that still lie ahead. two years ago a magnitude 9 earthquake shook homes, offices, and neighborhoods. the quake triggered another danger offshore. tsunami waves more than ten meters high slammed into the coast and brought down buildings all along it. the disasters triggered another inside fukushima daiichi. eventually reactors at the nuclear plant melted down. in all, government officials say 20,851 people were either killed or listed as missing. that number includes those who died during or after the evacuation. government figures show that as of last month, about 315,000 people were still living

. >>> people in northeastern japan have spent nearly two years trying to get back on their feet.ext monday marks the second anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor accident. survivors have been moving forward on a path to recovery. most all of the 120,000 companies in areas devastated by the tsunami were small and medium sized firms. many were already feeling the weight of their loans after a long economic slump. they had to decide whether to take on additional debt to restart operations. government officials say only two-thirds of those companies are back in business. people in the city of kesennuma faced many of those challenges. millioners of firms in fish processing and noodle production are finding ways to start afresh. people across japan have invested in their future. they help the residents kind their way back. we have a report. >> reporter: this man was born and raised in this city. he cultivated sea wood aweed ans fish for a living. the tsunami two years ago destroyed his family business, his company, his boat, his home. >> translator: i was devastat

. >>> people in northeastern japan spent two years trying to get back on their feet.ext month marks the second anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident. the march 11th disaster left nearly 2,000 people dead or missing. survivors are moving forward on a path to recovery. the biggest challenge is the damaged nuclear plant in fukushima. areas in the red are still off-limits. 160,000 people fukushima prefecture are able to go home. the earthquake and tsunami triggered a total blackout after the fuel inside the reactor was able to be kept cool. meltdowns happened in three of the six reactors. the temperature of the fuel continued to rise. high hydrogen built up and caused explosions. and the plant is no longer releasing specific amounts of radioactive materials. crews will one day dismantle the four crippled reactors. the entire operation could take up to 40 years. but tepco owners have not set timeline. >> reporter: an engineer at tepco for almost 30 years and was in charge of safety before the accident. now he supervises the cleanup process. what do y

two years ago an unprecedented emergency was unfolding in northeastern japan. towns and cities lay in ruin. residents were searching for lost loved ones, and crews were scrambling to control a nuclear plant few people in the world had ever heard of. in the days, weeks and months since the march 11th, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, survivors have been moving forward on the path to recovery. we're spending much of the day looking at how far they've come and the challenges that still lie ahead. two years ago a magnitude 9 earthquake shook homes, offices, neighborhoods. the quake triggered another danger offshore, tsunami waves more than ten meters high slammed into the coast and brought down buildings all along it. the disasters triggered another inside fukushima daiichi. eventually reactors at the plant melted down. in all, government officials say, 20,851 people were either killed or listed as missing. that number includes those who died during or after the evacuation. government figures show that as of last month, about 315,000 people were still living in tempor

. >>> people in northeastern japan have spent nearly two years trying to get back on their feet.ext monday marks the second anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. or nuclear accident. the march 11th disaster left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing. survivors have been moving forward on a path to recovery. almost all of the 120,000 companies in areas devastated by the tsunami were small and medium-sized firms. many were already feeling the weight of their loans after a long economic slump. and they had to decide whether to take on additional debt to restart operations. government officials say only 2/3 of those companies are back in business. people in the city of kesennuma face many of those challenges. managers of firms in fish processing and noodle production are finding ways to start afresh. people across japan have invested in their future. they help the residents of kesennuma find their way back. nhk world's akiko okamoto reports. >> reporter: fujita was born and raised in kesennuma. he cultivates seaweed and catches fish for a living. his family memb

the venting team appeared to have saved northeastern japan from a catastrophic explosion. the fukushima workers began to think the worst might be over. >> (translated): i started to relax. i was hoping the reactor would soon be stable, and they would let us leave soon. >> narrator: with the venting complete, the workers could focus on getting vitally needed water into the reactor cores. suddenly, the ground shook. >> (translated): i was thrown a foot from my chair. no one knew what it was. maybe an earthquake? >> (translated): the ground was rumbling and shaking like an aftershock. it was like a thunderclap. >> (translated): then yoshida said, "did reactor one just explode?" then we all panicked. >> narrator: the engineers feared that the reactor core itself had exploded, scattering radioactive fuel over the plant. in the control center, they watched the radiation levels and waited to learn if they would survive. >> (translated): many of us thought of running away. but there was no escape. if you actually ran, you would be exposed to radiation. >> narrator: after an hour,

. >>> people in northeastern japan have struggled through one challenge after another for two years. those living in fukushima are facing another crisis, medical care. hundreds of professionals have moved elsewhere, putting a strain on those left behind. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this hospital, compared to two years ago it's seeing 20,000 more patients a year, including more people who have to leave their homes near the coast. this is a specialist in gastroenterology. before the quake the hospital had nine specialists in this field. now there are only three. they are seeing more than 200 patients a day. he moves from one section of the hospital to another. he runs. there's no time to spare. >> i can't waste a second. >> reporter: a man in his 60s has come to the hospital for the first time. he's here because he can't visit his neighborhood hospital since the disaster. >> translator: since you've come a long way, i'd like to examine you right away. >> reporter: he knows it's best to act promptly. in the past patients had to wait for tests and ended up needing emergency surgery.

. >>> people in northeastern japan are reminded daily of what they lost on march 11th, 2011. the earthquake and tsunami took away loved ones, homes, entire communities. survivors are moving ahead, but they still face obstacles at the damaged nuclear plant and all along the pacific coast. "newsline "oil bring you their stories. don't miss "path to recovery: two years on." >>> the latest statistics show that unemployment in the 17 nation euro zone edged up in january. it reached a new record highlighting the impact of the bloc's credit crisis. >>> the labor situation continues to worsen in countries that have introduced austerity measures in order to receive aid from the eu and other creditors. the figure for greece was 27% although the latest available data from athens was for the month of november. >>> looks like japan's crowded tablet market is going to be getting just a bit more crowded. microsoft has announced that it will start selling its original new tablet called the surface in japan beginning on march 15th. microsoft has been marketing mainly software and surface is d

. >>> people in northeastern japan are reminded daily of what they lost march 11th, 2011. the earthquake and tsunami took away loved ones, homes and entire communities. survivors are moving ahead but they still face obstacles at the damaged nuclear plant and all along the pacific coast. "newsline" will bring you their stories. don't miss "path to recovery: two years on." >>> a delegation from the international olympic committee has arrived in tokyo. the ioc members will spend the next several days assessing the city's preparation to host the olympic and paralympic games. the ioc evaluation commission headed by the vice president was welcomed by a group of children at naurita airport. starting on monday, they'll spend four days visiting the planned sites for stadiums and the athletes' village. tokyo governor naoki inose later welcomed the commission members at a hotel. >> translator: i want the ioc to know that something as spectacular as london olympics and the paralympics last year is also possible in tokyo. >> the inspection period has been extended. because the commissi

catastrophe killed almost nine hundred thousand people and crippled the fukushima plant in northeastern japan spewing radiation and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes well today all but two of japan's nuclear reactors remain switched off since the disaster but the prime minister and his party fosters pro-nuclear policies to modernize the nation wants to restart those reactors and maybe even build new ones. well let's now take a look at the pie chart here that shows the distribution and the use of in japan as you can see the area marked in red is seventy four percent which stands for combustible fuels nuclear and now stands for fifteen percent around and. a percent and only winner so are either in fact alternative sources of them or g. represent one percent over there so as we can see. japan still have only relies on the combustible fuels there and also nuclear power always proved to be the cheapest among other resources here this of course could be crucial for reviving the economy as fuels come at least double prices compared to atomic energy . meanwhile two years after the disaste

. >>> people in northeastern japan have spent two years trying to get back on their feet. next monday marks the second anniversary of the tsunami, earthquake and accident. it left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing. survive verse been moving forward on a path to recovery. the tsunami was a blow for japan's cultural heritage, precious paintings, ancient documents and rare collections lay damaged among the debris, sometimes beyond repair. but soon, expert hands were at work piecing things back together, trying to salvage what they could. nhk reports from a muse mean? ewate prefecture. >> reporter: once a prized collection, now pieces in a puzzle. >> translator: this one goes here. >> reporter: a curator is restoring one of the damaged archives. it's a butterfly collection. the tsunami washed their wings away. hundreds of house to assumeds of animal and plant specimens, documents, too all engulfed in the tsunami.tof animal and plant specimens, documents, too all engulfed in the tsunami.hof ani plant specimens, documents, too all engulfed in the tsunami.uof plant specimens,

. >>> people in northeastern japan are reminded daily of what they lost on march 1th, 2011.thquake and tsunami took away loved ones, homes, entire communities. survivors are moving ahead, but they still face obstacles at the damaged nuclear plant and all along the pacific coast. "newsline" will bring you their stories. don't miss "path to recovery: two years on." >>> members of the international olympic committee inspected several venues in tokyo on tuesday. it was their second day evaluating the city's plans to host the 2020 summer games. it included metropolitan gymnasium where the table tennis competition would be held. the site hosted the gymnastics events in the 1964 tokyo olympics. it's also where the table tennis world championships and other international events were held. some of the ioc officials enjoyed rallies with japanese players. including ai sukuhara. she won a silver medal in the london olympics. sukuhara said she was nervous. she said she tried her best to convey tokyo's enthusiasm to host the games. >> translator: i think i was able to show the interesting

because astra he killed nearly nine hundred thousand people and crippled the fukushima plant in northeastern japan spewing radiation and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes thomas witnessed the aftermath of sastre and earlier shared the most striking moments with me in the studio. when i first arrived what struck me the most is that the scale of the disaster was much larger than what many people may even remember in fact what you had was you had the earthquake you had the tsunami then you had the nuclear disaster and then the lingering disaster after the fact so traveling to the coast homes destroyed villages decimated and the people doing what they could to try and pick up their lives days we don't get the testers claim that it's not enough is being done to clean up the contaminated areas so in yours i mean you visited some of the areas you saw some of the things that were being done there right after the disaster hit so what is your personal experience well the people we spoke to have a great distrust for the government they don't at that time they don't feel that they were getting all

and tsunami killed almost nine hundred thousand people and crippled the fukushima plant in northeastern japan causing meltdown spewing radiation and forcing thousands of thousands to flee their homes well today all but two of japan's nuclear reactors remain switched off since the disaster the prime minister whose party fosters pro-nuclear policies to modernize the nation wants to restart those reactors and maybe even build new ones. well the demonstrators aren't convinced they say japan could easily phase out atomic power because it only counts for around sixteen percent of total power production as you can see and the chart here most of the country's allergy still comes from fossil fuels and it's got a long way to go to improve its renewable sources but at the same time the disgraced nuclear power also proves to be the cheapest among other resources and this could be crucial for reviving the economy as fuels come at least a double prices compared to atomic energy. well at this point so let's assess japan's recovery and a struggling relationship with nuclear fuel with robert jacobs he is an e

years the catastrophe killed nearly nine hundred thousand people and crippled the plant in northeastern japan spewing radiation and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes largely sean thomas witnessed the aftermath of the disaster and he's now joining me in the studio to talk about this well first off sean if you went there i mean basically hours within that catastrophe and what what we would like to know now two years what struck you the most when you got there well it's very interesting when you look at the entire big picture a lot of people focus right now on the nuclear catastrophe sure that happened at fukushima but what what what struck me the most is the fact that there was a tsunami and earthquake the nuclear disaster at the actual power plant and then the lingering nuclear disaster afterwards so this was a much more larger event and then people really even remember we give it credit for so when we went to the coast people devastated by the tsunami cleaning up of the earthquake you could see the physical damage and then you had this invisible radiation absolutely as well which

years the task of a killed nearly nine hundred thousand people and crippled fukushima plant in northeastern japan spewing radiation and forcing thousands of thousands to flee their homes correspondent sean thomas has been there and he witnessed to the aftermath of the disaster let's now talk to sean in more detail about what you saw there tell us what you saw there what's your personal experience what you saw well when i first arrived what struck me the most is the fact that it was a disaster much larger than people really even remember in fact what you had was you had the earthquake you had the tsunami and then you had the nuclear disaster and then the lingering disaster after the fact so traveling to the coast homes destroyed villages decimated and the people doing what they could to try and pick up their lives in fact we went to this one village where they were still cleaning up and basically the place was in shatters. but there was a troupe that had come in from to get tokyo to entertain the children with them with a play basically to try and put a smile on the faces of these people who had b

tens of thousands of people have visited japan's northeastern toko region in the two years since it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami. some volunteered. >> reporter: the website is a joined project between japan and communications ministry and the national diet library. officials launched it on thursday. they say anyone, anywhere can use it. a website provides an online clearinghouse for mountains of data about the earthquake and tsunami. academics, government officials as well as members of the media and nonprofit each looked after a portion, but that created challenges. people had a hard time tracking down information. there was a risk that materials would be lost. the website makes it much easier to search for images. just punching key words like tsunami and the name of a town and you're interested in. a map pops up with details about video of when and where they were filmed. people can access recordings. the website manager say they'll keep adding at it until it becomes a variable. >> translator: we think the database will help people in other countries make their own disaster pr

and the medium's from the northeastern tip of japan to talk to to the dead and in the summer they would set up a booth and you could ask them to talk to your dad and receive messages back. we were there in the winter so we saw over they were living with some great experiences. and i just wondered around. >> if what happened there occurred here in the united states, how do you think their reaction would differ? >> that is so loaded question. i don't think i want to go there. [laughter] i don't know. all i can say is i hope we can learn from these other examples. i had an interesting talk with mr. wilson last summer talking with climate change and we're on the brink of extinction, and he said there is still hope. but we need to learn co-op -- live cooperative liang collaboratively and we have to change the way the world works altogether. some of us will survive. it is a dark picture but so many people around the world who live this way and have for a long time and there are people in this country, some sitting in this room who live this way. so we have people who can help to remind us how

marks the second anniversary of the earthquake and is tsunami disaster that devastated the northeastern region of japan, nozomu. >> hi. rebuilding the livelyhoods of survivors at the earliest possible time. progress has been slow and the task ahead has been overwhelming. according to the reconstruction agency, around 315,000 vacc e evacuees are living across japan. construction has started for less than 10% of the planned housing units for evacuees due to difficulties in securing land sites. 14% of the disaster and 18% of the tsunami dmofts have bb disposed of. the government plans to end disposal of the debris by tend of march next year. as for fukushima, about 50,000 residents of the prefecture have not returned, even though the government declared that the nuclear crisis has been brought under control. deco decome contamination is still being completed around the plant. >>> italy's annual gdp number is revised down now with the economy falling 2.8% on the year. italian banks are leading stocks lower in europe after fitch downgrades the country's sovereign rating. and china scales down its powerful m

we met mediums who live on the northeastern tip of japan, of honshu, who talk to the dead. so in the summer they sort of set up their little poots, and you can go -- booths, and you can go and ask them to talk to your dead whoever and, you know, receive messages back. but we were there in the winter, so we saw them wherever they were living and had some great experiences with them. so, and i've been, oh, you know, i've climbed -- [inaudible] and just, you know, wandered around. [laughter] yes, leslie? >> [inaudible] >> again? >> if what happened there occurred here in the united states, how do you think the reaction would differ? [laughter] >> that's a really loaded question. i don't think i want to go there. i don't know. you know, i think it would really vary, but i'm, all i can say is that i hope that we can learn from these other examples of how to -- i've had a really interesting talk with -- [inaudible] wilson last summer because i've been working on climate change and sort of this sense that we're at the brink of extinction anyway. and he said, look, there is still h

the most powerful quake ever recorded in japan launched mountainous waves that devastated the northeastern coast and sent radiation spewing from a damaged nuclear plant. more than 300,000 people had to flee, half of them from the radiation zone. today hundreds sued for compensation. in tokyo, prime minister shinzo abe pledged to speed up the recovery and the cleanup. >> reconstruction is a battle against time. i would like to reprioritize the recovery to one where the people on the ground can actually feel the recovery rather than following what is considered standard operating procedure. >> sreenivasan: following the disaster, japan's 50 nuclear reactors were shut down for inspections and testing. only two have restarted. we'll have more on japan after the tsunami, later in the program. wall street managed modest gains today. the dow jones industrial average added 50 points to close at 14,447. the nasdaq rose eight points to close near 3253. and the lundberg survey reported gas prices have fallen six cents in the last two weeks, the first drop since late december. those are some of the da

tsunami devastated much of the northeastern coast and the fukushima of power plant causing the worst nuclear accident in a generation. >> silence and reflection. many people in japan still in mourning. on this day two years ago, at exactly to o'clock 40 6:00 p.m., an enormous earthquake rocked northeast japan. and also triggered a tsunami sweeping for coastal villages and towns. almost 19,000 people lost their lives. many are still listed as missing. for the victims' families, the pain has not gone away. >> my mother is still missing. it has been two years. >> the number and his wife led tribute to those who lost their lives. he said japan would never forget what happened that day. he called for more support for survivors and their families. >> i think the only way to help the victims rest in pieces by accelerating rate construction and by supporting the survivors. >> many japanese feel let down am forgotten. the tsunami destroyed the entire coastal areas. we construction work has been installed. 3000 people are still living in temporary accommodations. it includes people who lived near the fukushima dai-ichi milk plant -- if nuclear plant which released huge amou

japan marks two years since the devastating earthquake and tsunami. memorial services are being held in tokyo and towns along the northeastern coast where the pacific ocean rushed ashore. nearly 19,000 people were killed in that disaster. >>> and new york congressman peter king, the 68-year-old republican moved from the political arena there into the boxing ring. on saturday night, king fought in a two-round exhibition bout against kickboxing champion "irish" josh foley. the friendly sparring match that ended in a draw. >>> new studies show stress can take its toll on the heart. researchers found higher rates of card yag problems in veterans with post dramatic stress disorder, in hurricane katrina victims and in greeks dealing with their country's financial crisis. doctors say prolonged stress raises hormones that affect blood pressure and influence other risk factors. >>> meanwhile, the biggest-ever study of mummies found that even without modern-day vices like fast food or cigarettes, people still had heart problems and clogged arteries some 4,000 years ago. "early today health" is brought to you by vagisill wash. >>> can the dow make it a fifth record

and that support >> brown: finally tonight, japan two years after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck its northeasternoast. ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the 2011 quake was one of the strongest in recorded history. it set off a tsunami that killed at least 16,000 people, left another 2,600 missing and triggered meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. today, official records show over 300,000 people are still living in temporary housing. for more on life in japan, two years after the disaster. i am joined by yuki tatsumi. she's a senior analyst on u.s.- japanese relations at the stimson center, a non-profit, non-partisan international research group. she was just in tokyo last week. yuki, welcome. what are the observable effects of that earthquake in japan two years later? >> the answer depends on where you live, frankly. if you live in the disaster-hit area, if you know anybody who were affected by the disaster, the disaster is still very much with you everyday. people worried about radiation not only in their soil and the air but also in the produce that they buy in grocery stores but the further

. >>> japan is marking the second anniversary of its deadly earthquake and massive tsunami. today memorial services were held in tokyo and the northeastern coast. it coincided with the exact moment the earthquake hit. the quake was followed by a massive tsunami and you would meltdown of a nuclear power plant. some debris from the quake is still washing up on the west coast of the u.s. and canada. more than 300,000 people are still without homes. the government plans to spend $270 billion to rebuild. >>> an unusual investigation at a bart station, a man was killed apparently after falling off the top of an elevator. rosemary orozco is up next with details on how long the spring-like weather will last. a program where the focus is to help kids see better so they can learn better. . >>> the catholic church is one step closer to selecting a new pope. the cardinals will decide pope benedict xvi's successor have wrapped up their prec clive discussions. tomorrow the secret conclave will begin with the cardinals retreating into the sistine chapel. then we'll wait for a sign from the chapel chimney. black smoke means no decision. white smoke mean

a grim milestone in japan today as the country marks two years since the devastating earthquake and tsunami. memorial services are being held in tokyo and towns along the northeasterne the pacific ocean rushed ashore. nearly 19,000 people were killed in that disaster. >>> and new york congressman peter king knows all about bare knuckle battles in congress. on saturday night the republican moved from the political arena into the booking ring fighting in a two-round exhibition bout against a kick boxing champion. the friendly sparring match ended in a draw. >>> the dow is up 10% to 14,397. the s&p was up 8.76% and the nasdaq begins around 3,244, a rise of nearly 7.5% in just the past ten%. >>> it's a new week on wall street. we'll see if fresh earnings can push back higher. dick's sporting goods, urban outfitters and costco have rises. >>> samsung unveiled the new galaxy s4 this week as it looks to take a bite out of apple's iphone. >>> the gas has dropped to $3.74. more u.s. companies are keeping their profits off shore. the top three stashing cash overseas, ge, pfizer and microsoft. >>> wall street will be watching washington this week. current government funding r

. >>> japan is marking the second anniversary of the deadly earthquake and tsunami. memorial services were held in tokyo on the northeasternoincided with the exact moment the 9.0 quick. the quake was followed by a massive tampa and ultimate meltdown of a nuclear power plant -- tsunami and ultimate meltdown of a nuclear power plant. the government plans to spend about $270 billion to rebuild. >>> the north korean army has declared the 1953 arm mistress agreement that ended the korean -- armistress agreement that ended ended war. >>> paul ryan will introduce legislation this week to repeal healthcare. otherwise known as macare. -- otherwise known as obamacare. >> his plan would give payments to senior citizens and critics say senior citizens would be stuck with the shortfall. >>> lawmakers as well as airlines are calling on the tsa to reverse a decision that allows small knives on planes. passengers can carry small pocketknives and golf clubs own planes starting april 25th. the tsa says that will allow screeners to focus on high priority threats like explosives. lawmakers say this is not the time to reduce vigilance at those