Soon 5 years after the disaster Rikuzentakata City Miracle Pine Tree

The damaged Rikuzentakata Youth Hostel and the thirty meters in height Miracle Pine Tree, which was the only one among 70,000 pine trees in the Takata Matsubara forest to survive the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata city on February 10, 2016, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The tree became symbol of hope for victims of the disaster, later died because of the soil turned saline from the seawater and was felled in September 2012 for long-term preservation as a memorial. A few weeks before of the fifth anniversary of 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, the Japanese government announced that the second half of the reconstruction work in the Tohoku area is expected to be concluded before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begin. According to the official Reconstruction Agency's website approximately $250 billion were allocated to the first period (2011-2015) and $65 billion more have been set aside for a ''Reconstruction and Revitalisation Period'' starting from fiscal 2016. The Agency also reported that the number of evacuees has decreased from over 470,000 to about 180,000 in the 5 years since the disaster. According to the latest Japanese National Police Agency figures (published on February 10, 2016) 15,894 people died as a result of the earthquake and tsunami and 2,562 are still listed as missing; 6,152 people were injured, and 121,803 properties collapsed. Areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami like Minamisanriku, Kesennuma, Onagawa, and Ishinomaki are in the process of recovery but reconstruction in parts of Fukushima will take much longer due to radiation contamination. (Photo by Rodrigo Reyes Marin/AFLO)