Japan, Five Years After March 11 Tsunami: Moment Of Silence Observed As Country Remembers Devastation [PHOTOS]

Japan on Friday marked the fifth anniversary of the 2011 tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives and sparked the worst nuclear disaster in a quarter century. A magnitude-9.0 quake hit Japan, creating a giant wall of water that devastated the country’s northeastern part.

Memorial services were held across Japan, with a moment of silence at 2.46 p.m., local time, (12:46 a.m. EST), the same time the quake struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Akihito reportedly offered flowers at a national memorial ceremony in Tokyo.