(VOVWorld) – Japan has paid tribute to the more than 18,000 people who lost their lives five years ago in a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and huge tsunami, which also triggered the worst nuclear power disaster since Chernobyl.

All Japanese people spent a minute's silence at 2:46 p.m. local time in memory of tsunami victims.(Photo: AFP)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan’s Emperor Akihito led the memorial on Friday. Emperor Akihito called on Japanese people to support the victims while Abe expressed his determination that the Japanese people will build a new northern Japan full of hope.

Similar memorial ceremonies were held in Miyagi and Iwaki, the hardest hit provinces.