Japan on the road again

What a difference a week makes. After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, clean-up workers are already making a difference.

These pictures, issued by the Associated Press agency, show a road in Naka, in Ibaraki prefecture, seriously damaged by the quake on March 11 and fully repaired by March 17.

The highway company Nexco East said its workers restored the 150m rift in the highway, which runs near the shattered Fukushima nuclear power station through to Tokyo.

The feat of engineering and efficiency could be an inspiration for Cantabrians whose lives are still disrupted by their February 22 quake.

Large parts of the city centre are still cordoned off and residents and business-owners are forbidden to enter.

Roads in the city are also severely affected by diversions and lane closures because of damage.

In Japan, fuel shortages and petrol rationing are still in force in large areas, so there is little traffic to use the repaired road.

The country faces a huge recovery task. The Japanese Government puts the damage at $414 billion. More than 18,000 buildings were destroyed.