In pictures: After the tsunami and earthquake, Fukushima remains in ruins

Two years on from the tsunami and earthquake that devastated Japan, startling photos have emerged of the areas ravaged by the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed.

Images from Namie and other towns outside the nuclear exclusion zone, surrounding the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, paint a bleak picture of the abandoned areas.

At the time residents were forced to flee and now can only return for short visits due to the levels of radiation contamination.