May 14, 2011 - 16:08 AMT
Over 15,000 people killed in Japan quake and tsunami

The death toll from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan has topped 15,000, the National Police Agency said on May 13.

The number of deaths stood at 15,019 in 12 prefectures, including the three hardest-hit Tohoku northeastern prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, according to the agency. The figure includes three people killed in a strong aftershock that hit the Tohoku region on April 11.

The death toll stood at 8,975 in Miyagi, 4,421 in Iwate and 1,559 in Fukushima. The number of people who remain unaccounted for came to 9,506, Jiji Press reported.

A total of some 115,500 evacuees are still being forced to stay in some 2,400 shelters in 18 prefectures due to damage from the natural disasters and radiation leaks from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.