Five years have passed since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake
The effects are still evident after all this time
On March 11th five years ago, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the most powerful earthquake to ever hit Japan, spawned great tsunami waves up to nearly 40 meters and devastated Japan’s main island of Honshu.
These natural disasters also caused a third disaster after damaging the reactors at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, contaminating the surrounding area with radiation. The nuclear meltdown, according to Live Science, was a level 7.
In addition to miles of both urban and suburban land being turned to ruins, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stated that “over 16,000 people died in the disaster and more than 470,000 people were displaced from their homes.”
Even today, hundreds of thousands of people are still feeling the effects of the disaster, and have been forced to reside in temporary housing facilities due to being unable to return to their hometowns. Families are also still looking for lost loved ones in hopes of being reunited with one another after five years of separation.
Over 2,500 people are still unaccounted for, as reported by the National Police Agency of Japan.
Because Japan is still in need of assistance to rebuild the coastal cities destroyed by the earthquake, organizations such as the Japanese Red Cross have volunteered their time and efforts in helping to unite the community through organized activities and events. Volunteers have also assisted in building homes and hospitals in the affected areas. This helps shift the focus from the negative impacts of the disaster to the ongoing support throughout the community for one another.
Although the disasters were in the past, the effects for many still haunt them in the present. To those of us who didn’t experience this tragedy, this may seem unreal, but for the victims who were standing atop buildings watching their lives being washed away into the ocean, it’s still all too real.
Take a moment today to remember those who lost their lives, the ones who have yet to be found, and the ones still recovering from this disaster.