radiation levels in water have now shown a distressing surge

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan's Pacific Coast on March 11 has so far claimed 10,000 lives while as many as 17,000 people have been reported missing.

Despite the severity of the effects of the disaster on life in the country, the global attention has been exhausted on the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. As the efforts to prevent a meltdown are in full-swing, radiation levels in water have now shown a distressing surge, giving birth for fresh concerns.

As the international stress on the likelihood of a nuclear catastrophe has taken away considerable amount of attention from the human conditions in the disaster-ravaged country, Japan is mourning deaths in silence.

With crematoriums unable to keep up with mounting death toll, victims of Japan's quake and tsunami were buried in a mass grave in the town of Higashimatsushima. After Self Defence troops laid the coffins in a line, kin of the deceased laid flowers and paid their final respects. However, this is only a temporary arrangement. All those buried in the mass grave have been identified and the coffins marked, so as to allow a proper burial later on.

According to the official Kyodo news agency, 24 bodies were buried at the site Tuesday, and the local government is prepared to bury up to 1,000.