Photo/Illutration A search team looks for clues about people still missing from the Great East Japan Earthquake in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture on March 11, 2022. (Keiji Iijima)

Almost 12 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, 2,523 people remain missing, the National Police Agency reported.

The agency released the latest figures on March 9, two days before the 12th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan that claimed 15,900 lives.

Twelve months have passed for the first time without a single report of remains being recovered or a victim being identified from the country’s worst disaster in decades, the agency said.

By prefecture, Miyagi had the highest death toll, at 9,544, followed by Iwate with 4,675 and Fukushima with 1,614.

The figure stands at 24 in Ibaraki Prefecture, followed by Chiba with 21 and Tokyo with 7.

Miyagi also has the largest number of missing people, at 1,213, followed by Iwate with 1,110 and Fukushima with 196.

The remains of 47 people have yet to be identified in Iwate and six victims remain unidentified in Miyagi.

Search operations are continuing on a smaller scale while authorities are searching for information on the identities of the unidentified victims.

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