The devastation wrought by the tsunami and earthquake in Japan earlier this year might be in our distant memories by now, but I am very sure that for victims of those natural disasters, they are still reeling and picking up the pieces of their lives. Google did promise to digitally archive the areas of Northeastern Japan which were affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami earlier this year, and it is nice to see them live out their promise – with much work being done, having to drive through over 44,000 kilometers of affected regions, in the quest to capture 360-degree panoramic imagery of the affected areas so that you can now check them out in the Street View feature in Google Maps.
If you want to, the same images can also be viewed over at a special website called “Build the Memory,” letting you compare before and after shots of the towns which were affected by the mind-numbing events. For folks who want to experience the maximum effect, just start off inland and venture in the general direction of the coast – your eyes will see how the idyllic countryside changes dramatically in time.
Filed in . Read more about Google Maps and Street View.