TOKYO — Japan on Wednesday pays tribute to those killed in the powerful earthquake and resulting tsunami nine years ago that caused the nation’s worst nuclear accident.

Central and local governments canceled annual memorial ceremonies as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested large gatherings be called off due to fears of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Abe was to observe a silent prayer in his office at 2:46 p.m., the exact moment the magnitude-9 quake hit northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.

The twin natural disasters left some 18,400 people dead or missing and triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, 150 miles northeast of Tokyo.

The emergency prompted hundreds of thousands of residents to flee the region while the plant released radioactive material into the environment.

The Reconstruction Agency said about 47,700 people are still unable to return home due to radiation contamination in areas near the facilities. However, the number is much larger, evacuees and activists said.

Last week, Abe’s government lifted its evacuation order over a small part of Futaba Town, which co-hosts the nuclear plant with Okuma Town.

The move comes about three weeks before the arrival of the Olympic torch in Futaba, ahead of the opening of the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

The torch relay is scheduled to begin at J-Village, a football training center about 12 miles south of the plant, on March 26.

Japan has so far confirmed about 1,250 cases of the novel coronavirus, including about 700 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama. Nineteen people died of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

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PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): nuclear plant in 2011