11.03.2023
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that caused a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. More than 22,000 people lost their lives.
Japan commemorates this Saturday (03.11.2023) the twelfth anniversary of the triple disaster of March 11, 2011, when one of the most violent earthquakes recorded in history caused a tsunami, which unleashed the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe.
As every year, a minute of silence was observed in the country at 02:46 pm, the time at which 12 years ago the 9.0 magnitude earthquake shook the entire archipelago and came to China.
From the depths of the Pacific Ocean, off the northeastern coast of Japan, the terrifying jolt triggered a tsunami whose gigantic waves fell on the region. This was the main cause of death for more than 22,000 people in the catastrophe.
March 11, the date of the 2011 great earthquake and tsunami is displayed on boats floating in the sea off Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture (11.03.2023)
Television footage on Saturday showed people who lost loved ones in the tragedy laying flowers, offering prayers and bowing at graves.
The tsunami was followed by accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plantinundated by the waves, and where the cores of three of the six reactors melted down.
Access to more than 1,650 km2 of the Fukushima department (12% of its area) was prohibited in the months following the catastrophe. Intensive decontamination work made it possible to reduce uninhabitable areas to 337 km2 (2.4% of the department).
The decontamination and decommissioning work on the plant is expected to take several decades.
afp/ap /rr
