Twelve days after the ferocious earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, Terasachie Ono, 37, finally started to think about the future rather than reflecting on what had happened.

"It is like a long long nightmare," Ono said. "When I finally calmed down from the shock, I found the future even more frightening."

Minamisanryuku in Miyagi Prefecture was among the worst devastated towns in the 9-magnitude earthquake. The town has been torn down, washed away by a 20-meter tsunami, leaving 10,000 of its 18,000 population dead or missing.

Ono's whole family escaped the catastrophe. They now stay in a shelter which accommodate 1,500 people.

Food and water are enough for the people in the shelter, and the stock of kerosene can be used for a few days. Resources from all over Japan are continuously shipped in, some even by U.S. army helicopters, as here is one of the most-watched evacuation centers in the region.

Perplexed evacuees

"Life has become a lot easier than the first a few days, but when people stop panicking, they will realize there are so many problems that seem to have no solution," Ono said.

"The government didn't tell us anything about the future," the mother of a 14-year-old said. "I don't hear a word about our prospect, such as whether to rebuild the town here or to relocate us elsewhere."

But she said if the family car's empty oil tank could be refilled, she would flee right away.

When the catastrophe happened, Masafumi Yamauchi, 62, was working in his fish store near the coast. After hearing the tsunami alarm, he escaped to Shizugawa Middle School, a shelter atop a nearby hill.

"It is not yet the time to talk about rebuilt," Yamauchi said. "It will take years as the devastation was too huge."

"I heard rumor about relocating all of us to outside the area, but for how long?" he asked. "If we are going to be returned anyway, we would rather stay here and go nowhere."

"I don't know how life will be like in the future, but even if the town was recovered, I will not have my house rebuilt down on the valley." he added.