NHK




 

Friday marks the 11th anniversary of a massive earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern and northeastern Japan, causing a severe nuclear accident.

A number of events are being held to commemorate the people who died in the disaster.

The magnitude 9.0 quake hit off the coast of northeastern Japan at 2:46 PM on March 11, 2011, triggering waves more than 10 meters high.
Authorities put the number of deaths and missing people combined at 18,423.

The number of evacuees whose deaths have been certified as related to the disaster had increased by 11 over the past year to 3,786 as of Thursday.

There were still 38,139 evacuees as of February, though the number has been declining.

The earthquake and tsunami, as well as the ensuing nuclear accident, caused serious damage particularly to 40 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Of these, 28 saw their populations fall by more than 10 percent compared to before the disaster.

All residents of Futaba Town in Fukushima are still unable to return home. An evacuation order is expected to be lifted for part of the town in June.

Isolation among residents of the affected regions is an issue. Last year, 72 people died while living alone in public housing in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima.

NHK conducted an online survey of people living in coastal areas of the three prefectures, and in areas that had been evacuated after the nuclear accident.

They were asked how frequently they talked about the disaster with other people this year.

Forty-five percent said they talked about it less this year than last year, while only seven percent said they brought it up more often. Thirty-eight percent said the frequency remained unchanged.

Passing on lessons from the 2011 disaster is a major challenge for Japan, which continues to face the risk of large earthquakes.

Government estimates of worst case scenario disasters, released last December, found that a major earthquake and tsunami off Hokkaido could kill 100,000 people, while another earthquake and tsunami off Iwate could kill 199,000.