A soldier taking part in search operations Sunday at the tsunami-devastated port area of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: The death toll from the quake and tsunami is more than 13,000Japan has launched a new effort to recover victims' bodiesAbout 110 U.S. troops are taking part in the search Tokyo (CNN) -- About 22,000 Japanese troops launched an extensive search for victims of last month's earthquake and tsunami along the country's northeastern coast Sunday as the death toll from the nearly month-old disasters passed the 13,000 mark. About 110 U.S. troops will be part of the search in the northern prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, Japanese military officials said. Japan's National Police Agency reported Sunday that the death toll from the March 11 disaster had risen to 13,013, with another 14,608 still missing. Earlier Sunday, police said 4,683 people were injured. More than 151,000 others have been displaced, the agency reported. In addition, at least two deaths and 283 injuries have been blamed on a Thursday night aftershock, a magnitude 7.1 tremor that had left 250,000 in the dark Saturday night.
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