Signs of 2012

March 11 marks a year since Japan’s devastating earthquake, and subsequent tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

The 9.0 magnitude quake shifted the earth’s axis and killed nearly 16,000 people. Over 3,200 people remain missing today.

Entire towns were wiped out down the coastline - and most remain vacated today.

The Fukushima power plant was nearly destroyed, and the New York Times says the reactors came much closer to catastrophe than the Japanese government said. The government even considered a complete evacuation of Tokyo.

Today people across Japan paused at 2:46pm local time (just after midnight ET), the same time the 9.0 quake struck, for a moment of silence, prayer and reflection.

Many questions remain about rebuilding villages, cleaning up the nuclear exclusion zone, the effects of radiation, and the overall debate about nuclear power in Japan.

Our thoughts remain with those impacted.

• More: Prayers and tears as Japan marks the 1-year anniversary
• Photo gallery: Images from the past year
• Japan weighed evacuating Tokyo during the height of the crisis
• Chance of major Tokyo earthquake rising
• Japan’s year - earthquakes, radiation and typhoons

As we transition into 2012, Japan welcomed the new year with another large earthquake.

The New Year’s Day temblor was officially registered by the USGS as a 6.8 magnitude, although most media are reporting it as a 7.0.

Buildings in Tokyo shook for a few minutes but there were no reports of major damage or casualties. The quake measured approximately 4.0 in central Tokyo, Fukushima and their surrounding areas. No further damage was reported at the Fukushima plant.

• More: Earthquake strikes under the south sea of Japan
• Japan quake map - see where the quake struck
• USGS: Latest global quakes registering 5.0+

Mother Nature took another swipe at Japan this week.

Typhoon Roke downed power lines, flipped vehicles, and basically disrupted life in and around Tokyo Wednesday. Over 1.2 million people were prompted to evacuate while over 7,800 were under mandatory evacuation orders.

The storm headed straight to the earthquake and tsunami stricken region of the country, leaving deadly mudslides and flooding in its wake.

And while TEPCO took precautionary measures at the Fukushima nuclear plant to minimize the spread of radioactive materials by strong winds, the storm spared the area.

• Storm leaves crippled nuclear plant virtually untouched
• More: Typhoon Roke moves across Japan

Strong earthquakes bounced around the Ring of Fire on Thursday.

Major shakers all registering above 5.0 shook Fiji, New Zealand, Cuba and Japan in relatively quick succession. 

A smaller 3.5 quake also struck southern California in the same time frame while a 6.1 shook Alaska less than 24 hours earlier.

The strongest of the bunch was a 7.3-magnitude quake that struck the Fiji region. Thankfully the quake didn’t trigger a tsunami

• USGS: Recent quakes above 5.0 magnitude
• Earthquakes hit California, Cuba and Japan
• 7.3 earthquake strikes the Fiji islands
• Worldwide earthquakes signal major changes for Earth