Monday, March 18, 2013

Marking 2 Years Since Disaster

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred off the Japanese coast, causing a resultant tsunami that caused massive damage for coastal communities in Japan.

As a final count, the Japanese government has declared 15,881 deaths, 6,142 injuries, and 2,668 missing individuals from 20 seperate prefectures as a result of this disaster.  Additionally, 129,225 buildings collapsed with more than 250,000 severely damaged and 691,766 buildings partially damaged.

Additionally, the wave and earthquake cased massive nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant which resulted in mass evacuations of communities. This disaster caused $235 billion (US) in damages, making it the 'costliest natural disaster in world history'.

On March 11, 2013, people around the planet paused in remembrance of this event, and consideration of future problems or disasters that might occur.  It is with deepest sincerity that I express my condolences for those who were affected by the disaster.  Their biggest fear now is that the world may have forgotten them, even though they are still in the very beginning stages of rebuilding their lives.

None
People pray for the remembrance of victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami [Photo: USAToday]

In the spirit of giving, I recommend all who can donate or volunteer to do so.  At the very least, let us hope we learn from this event.

If you would like to read more about the disaster, there is a very excellent article on Wikipedia about the Tohuku earthquake containing details of the quake, wave, and other events that took place during and after the event.  Additionally, USAToday has a photostream of the memorials.


None
The F/V Kyotuku Maru is lit up in remembrance of the March 11, 2011 disaster. [Photo: USAToday]

  

No comments:

Post a Comment