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Old 2014-03-11, 06:43   Link #2585
TinyRedLeaf
Moving in circles
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
5 ways things have changed, three years after quake
Quote:
Tokyo (March 11, Tue): At 2.46pm on March 11, 2011, a deadly 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off the northern coast of Japan. It unleashed a towering tsunami that travelled at the speed of a plane to the coast, and swept the northern Pacific coastline.

Within minutes, communities were turned to matchwood, and whole families had drowned.

The tsunami waves also crashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant, sparking reactor meltdowns and explosions that spewed radioactive materials to the vast farm region, and setting off the worst atomic crisis in a generation.

The triple disasters killed 15,884 people in Japan and left 2,636 people still unaccounted for.

On the third anniversary of the disaster, we look at how life has changed — or not — for the survivors and the country.

(1) Reconstruction: A slow and difficult process

The disasters displaced some 470,000 people. The number of displaced people has gone down to 270,000, but about 100,000 still live in temporary housing. Others have found shelter in new cities or with relatives.

Despite the government pledging billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, reconstruction in disaster-hit regions has been slow. Japan has so far built only 3.5 per cent of the new homes promised to disaster refugees in heavily affected Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.

Rebuilding works have been slowed down by a severe shortage of labour and construction materials in Japan, caused by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's promotion of public works projects nationwide to simulate the economy. The chronic shortage means the cost of reconstruction has gone up.

There are other problems: The local government of Fukushima prefecture does not even know how many new houses it needs to house evacuees.

(2) Nuclear crisis: A volatile situation, environmentally and politically

Little progress has been made towards decommissioning units 1 to 4 at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, which continues to produce tonnes of contaminated water every day, some of which is leaking into the sea.

The crippled plant remains volatile, and engineers say the complicated decommissioning process will take four decades, as fears persist over the long-term health effects of leaked radiation.

The crisis forced the shutdown of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors, forcing the country to turn to pricey fossil-fuel alternatives to plug the energy gap.

Despite Tokyo's push to boost alternative energy, power sourced from wind farms and solar energy remains a fraction of Japan's needs. Atomic power once supplied about a third of the resource-poor nation’s energy.

Mr Abe has called for the reactors to be turned back on to power the world's third-largest economy, but anti-atomic sentiment ripples through communities big and small in the country of 128 million. Tens of thousands of citizens turned out for an anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo March 9 to voice their anger at the nuclear industry and the government.

(3) Survivors: A painful healing process

Small towns across Japan's north-eastern coast are rebuilding, but remain far from healing.

In Rikuzentakata, Kesencho, which lost all of its homes to the disaster and where one in 10 residents died, nearly everyone lost a friend or family member on March 11, 2011. Around 5,000 people — a quarter of the town's population — are still in temporary shelters with their lives on hold.

Many have chosen to suffer alone rather than seek support. Experts say survivors can find it especially difficult to seek help in a country that still stigmatises mental illness and prizes stoicism.

Life is also challenging for parents and guardians of orphans in the disaster zone. A Yomiuri Shimbun survey found that they are often on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Of the 241 orphans in the three worst-hit Tohoku prefectures, around 90 per cent are being raised by relatives, such as grandparents, uncles and aunts. They face various challenges, including old age and the resulting weakened health and physical condition.

Many also found themselves unprepared for the foster-parent role they were suddenly thrust into.

Professor Michiyo Kato, the head of the Support Office for Children in the Aftermath of the 2011 Japan Earthquake, said: "Many of these foster parents are devoting themselves to raising children out of a sense of responsibility, thinking that it's natural for them to do so as the children's relatives."

But he said they also feel sad over the loss of family members. "Some of these people aren't able to voice their complaints openly."

(4) Children: A life of fear, stress and emotional trauma

A study funded by Japan's Health Ministry found that about 30 per cent of children in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima — who were aged between three and five at the time of the disaster — exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as flashbacks of their horrific experiences, and needed professional help.

The three Tohoku prefectures were the most badly hit by the disaster.

There are now more children playing truant and some daycare centres don't celebrate Mother's Day or Father's Day any more as many children have lost at least one parent.

Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it's like to play outside — fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives.

And the impact is starting to show, with children experiencing falling strength, lack of coordination — some cannot even ride a bicycle — and emotional issues like shorter tempers, officials and educators say.

Koriyama recommended shortly after the disaster that children up to two years old should not spend more than 15 minutes outside each day. Those aged three to five should limit their outdoor time to 30 minutes or less.

These limits were lifted last October, but many kindergartens and nursery schools continue to adhere to the limits, in line with the wishes of worried parents.

(5) Fishing industry: An uphill struggle for recovery

The nuclear crisis hit the agricultural sector — particularly the fishing industry in the disaster zone — hard.

Considerable progress has been made in the reconstruction of disaster-hit fishing ports and vessels in the past three years, but the catch volumes landing at major wholesale markets in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima have reached about only 70 per cent of levels before March 11, 2011.

About 40 countries, including China and South Korea, still restrict the import of farm and fisheries products from Japan, so the recovery for the industry is still an uphill battle.

THE STRAITS TIMES
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