Japan marks 15 yrs since quake-tsunami, Fukushima nuclear crisis

SENDAI - Japan on Wednesday marked 15 years since a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the country's northeastern areas and triggered a nuclear crisis, with survivors expressing ongoing pain as they called for the memories and lessons from the catastrophe to be passed down to future generations.

The triple disasters of the magnitude-9.0 earthquake, resulting tsunami and meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis, led to the loss of more than 22,000 lives. The plant's operator is still struggling to dismantle the damaged facilities by 2051.