The century-old temple clock has come back to life when an aftershock of the 2011 quake hit the region

For almost 10 years, the clock hanging in Bunshun Sakano’s temple was a reminder of the day nature’s force came close to destroying his community.

The clock, which is thought to be about 100 years old, stopped ticking after the north-east coast of Japan was struck by an earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people on 11 March 2011.

Related: Japan marks 10 years since triple disaster killed 18,500 people