Inside the Fukushima exclusion zone

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Survivors exposed themselves to high levels of radiation five years ago while searching for family members swept away by the tsunami that triggered meltdowns at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant. The disaster in March 2011 killed nearly 16,000 people along Japan's northeastern coast and left more than 2,500 missing.

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Homes and businesses have been abandoned ever since the disaster five years ago on March 11, 2011. People that were forced out of their homes still remain displaced unable to return out of fears of being exposed to the high amounts of radiation in the area.

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The elements and nature take over homes, businesses and cars inside the radiation contamination exclusion zone close to the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant five years later. People living near the plant have a slightly higher risk of developing cancers like leukemia, thyroid cancer and breast cancer due to the radiation and have yet to return to their homes.

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An empty school corridor inside the radiation contamination exclusion zone remains abandoned five years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The damage caused by the tsunami resulted in equipment failure and ultimately the meltdown of three reactors on the plant.

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On March 11, 2011, an earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that lead to the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Five years later, the exclusion zone (the area closest to the plant) still remains untouched as radioactive levels still remain above normal. Here, cars remain overgrown with weeds and plants as they were left on the day of the disaster.

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The passing of five years shows as vegetation and the elements begin to take their toll on homes and businesses inside the deserted exclusion zone close to the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Feb. of 2016. The area is now closed to residents due to radiation contamination from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

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Streets remained deserted as vegetation and the elements begin to take their toll on home and businesses in the exclusion zone. More than 99,000 people are still forced to live as evacuees away from contaminated areas.

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Here, a 360 degree view of the tsunami razed landscaped now evacuated of residents since the Fukushima nuclear disaster is seen in late Feb. of 2016. March 11, 2016 marks the fifth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami which claimed the lives of 15,894, and the subsequent damage to the reactors at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant causing the nuclear disaster which still forces 99,750 people to live as evacuees away from contaminated areas.

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Personal items are strewn around a tsunami damaged home inside the exclusion zone close to the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The nuclear disaster was the largest since Chernobyl in 1986 and the second to be given the Level 7 classification of the International Nuclear Event Scale.

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Since no one will go near the reactors due to the high amount of radiation still in the area, robots have been designed to locate the melted fuel rods. However, once the robots get close to the reactors, the radiation completely destroys them.

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Thousands of bags of radiation contaminated soil and debris wait to be processed, inside the exclusion zone close to the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. March 11, 2016 will mark the fifth anniversary of the deadly 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan claiming nearly 16,000 lives.

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Five years of vegetation are shown taking over this abandoned car in the exclusion zone near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. While nearly 19,000 people were killed, more than 160,000 loves their homes and livelihoods.

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A worker sorts through thousands of radiation contaminated protective clothing that still need to be destroyed inside the plants new incinerator building. Five years on the decontamination and decommissioning process at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s embattled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continues to this day.

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This panoramic image shows a bunch of abandoned cars that were washed away during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The area has remained abandoned since the disaster as vegetation has overtaken the cars five years later.

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A bicycle overrun by vegetation and the elements sits in the exclusion zone, untouched since the deadly tsunami of 2011. Many people living in the area during the time now report a decline in the health of their families as well as anxiety issues from worrying about future health ailments.

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Norio Kimura, 50, who lost his father, wife and daughter in the March 11, 2011 tsunami, looks at his family's personal belongings at a temple near his home inside the exclusion zone in Okuma, near Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

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Five years later, people are still working around the clock to clean up after the deadly disaster. Here, radiation contaminated soil and debris are piled up to be processed in the exclusion zone near the Fukushima power plant.

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This panoramic shot shows abandoned roads and buildings in the Fukushima exclusion zone following the deadly 2011 tsunami. The tsunami reached 10 meters high, three more than the seawall was meant to bare, slamming into the nuclear reactors and causing one of the worst meltdowns in history.