Minamisanriku tragedy: Google images before and after the tsunami 2011

Minamisanriku used to be a charming resort on this coastline of deep, wooded, islands and mountainous inlets but it is famed for something else now - it is true. According to local people, around 10,000 of Minamisanriku's 17,000 inhabitants are now missing and are presumed dead.

Click here to read 'Inside Minamisanriku: 'some kind of Armageddon''.