The commeration of Japan's Fukushima disaster's 10-year anniversary was held on Thursday. The disaster in 2011 comprised of an earthquake, nuclear meltdown, and tsunami that recorded nearly 16,000 people and rendered hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
One resident threw leaves, bearing messages to loved ones, into an ocean in Fukushima's Soma. An artist performed a dance on the beach to reminisce the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, in Iwaki.
Remembering the Fukushima Disaster
With a moment of prayers, silence, and anti-nuclear protests, Japan mourned for 20,000 victims of the large tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan 10 years ago. The incident demolished towns and incited nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima.
Huge waves were triggered by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, which was one of the strongest on record. The waves crashed into the northeastern coast. These crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant. One hundred sixty thousand residents were forced to relocate as radiation spewed into the air. The globe's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl and the trauma have left survivors grappling to overcome the grief of losing families and towns to the waves of March 11, 2011, reported Mint.
A resolve to recount lessons learned swept Japan on the incident's 10-year anniversary. People nationwide observed a moment of silence at 2:46 PM, exactly a decade following the huge quake that shook eastern and northeastern Japan. The places hit were particularly Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate prefectures, reported Kyodo News.
Regarding the devastation, one survivor remarked he fears people are starting to forget. Carrying bouquets of flowers, numerous people walked to the seaside or visited graves to pray for relatives and friends washed away by the waves.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Emperor Naruhito were among people observing a moment of silence. They made a speech at the memorial service later, reported Time.
Over 20,000 fatalities were estimated to be recorded mostly in the tsunami. Almost half a million people were displaced.
According to Naruhito, who said his heart aches, "I also consider it important to heal emotional scars and watch over the mental and physical health of those afflicted, including the elderly and children," reported NBC News.
After a decade of three of the reactors melting down, a resolution to the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains a distant initiative. The most challenging part of the cleanup is removing molten nuclear fuel from reactors. It has not yet begun due to high radiation inside the reactor buildings. This put the targeted decommissioning of the plant by 2051 into doubt.
Speaking at a memorial service in Tokyo, according to Suga, it remains to be "unbearable" to contemplate the feelings of those who lost families and friends. He added Japan should "never forget" the lessons learned in the disaster and that the nation would continue to offer support to help people rebuild their lives.
Meanwhile, Buddhist monks prayed for the victims of the 2011 tsunami and earthquake at a beach in Iwaki. Paper lanterns were lit to commemorate the fatalities of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture.
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