Remembering the Second Year of the Earthquake and Tsunami that Hit Japan

The Japanese government held a national ceremony in memory of the earthquake and tsunami that took 19,000 lives two years ago with a minute of silence.

The national ceremony attended by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko took place in Tokyo. A minute of silence was observed at 2:46 pm, 05:46 GMT, which was the exact moment two years ago when the 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the northeastern Pacific coast. The effect brought the killer tsunami and swallowed the country’s coastal communities, damaging the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Explosions and meltdowns have occurred and it was considered as the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine. 15,881 people died while 2,688 remain unaccounted for.

The Tsunami that Swallowed Thousands of Lives

It was one of the largest recorded earthquakes that hit Japan, killing thousands of people and sweeping off everything it covered. The same tsunami also hit Hawaii, alarming the entire Pacific, even Canada, South America, Alaska and the U.S West Coast. Since it damaged Japan’s nuclear power plant, people in the area were evacuated when authorities learned that the reactor’s cooling system was not working. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake awoken a 23-foot tsunami with several aftershocks as high as 6.0 magnitude for hours. The tsunami swallowed a huge portion of the coastline, stretching as far as Tokyo.

A big part of Kesennuma was violently burned without any sign of hope to take away the flames. The calamity damaged all the broad areas in northern Japan. The government strictly ordered all the residents near the nuclear plant to move back as far as two miles away from it. The nuclear plant has remained hot despite being shut down and precautionary measures must be taken even if there were no radiation leaking. For a country used to tsunamis, this incident was the worst that happened. People have become homeless and some were stranded. Fire broke out here and there. Most of the infrastructures were badly damaged.

Bouncing Back from the Disaster

The government’s effort to recover from the traumatic incident has not been easy. More people are still homeless and some are currently living in temporary housing units. Most of the country’s nuclear reactors are still shut down and debate over nuclear energy still continues. Some people want to rebuild their homes in the tsunami-hit areas where they have lived their entire lives, while some wish to move to a higher ground for safety.

The effect of the tsunami and earthquake made it hard for the survivors to cope up. The depressing situation has killed more than 2,000 survivors. Domestic violence has also increased in some affected communities. People have recently marched in Tokyo, pushing the government to end the utilization of nuclear energy. Only two nuclear power plants are currently operational. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to restart the nuclear reactors after the safety checks in order to provide for the country’s energy needs. Reconstruction has been slow, but the Prime Minister promises to accelerate the process. Despite the upcoming spring, the Prime Minister thinks the “real spring” will not be coming soon. Services are now being offered in Japan for the souls of the departed.