Workers clean up debris inside a store in Hachinohe, Japan, on Dec. 9, a day after a powerful earthquake struck the region. Photo: IC photo

A car sits stranded on a collapsed section of road in Tōhoku, Japan, on Dec. 9. Photo: VCG

Residents take shelter at the city hall in Hachinohe, Japan, on Dec. 9 after the earthquake. Photo: IC photo

A house burns in Aomori prefecture, Japan, early on Dec. 9. The fire broke out following the earthquake. Photo: IC photo

Office supplies litter the floor of the Kyodo News bureau in Hakodate, Japan, early on Dec. 9. Photo: IC photo

Merchandise from a hardware store lies scattered on the floor in Tōhoku, Japan, on Dec. 9. Photo: VCG

The collapsed torii gate of a shrine in Hachinohe, Japan, pictured on Dec. 9. Photo: IC photo

Sapporo’s Sumikawa Station was closed on Dec. 8 after the earthquake suspended subway operations. Photo: VCG

A map from the China Earthquake Networks Center shows the epicenter and magnitude of the Dec. 8 earthquake off the coast of Honshu, Japan. Photo: China Earthquake Networks Center