Japan marks 15 years since quake-tsunami, Fukushima nuclear crisis

The triple-disaster in 2011 led to the loss of more than 22,000 lives. Read more at straitstimes.com.

TOKYO – Japan on March 11 marked 15 years since a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the country’s north-eastern areas and triggered a nuclear crisis, with survivors expressing ongoing pain as they called for the memories and lessons from the catastrophe to be passed down to future generations.

The triple disasters of the 9 magnitude earthquake, the resulting tsunami and meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, the world’s worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis, led to the loss of more than 22,000 lives. The plant’s operator is still struggling to dismantle the damaged facilities by 2051.

People across the country observed a moment of silence at 2.46pm, the exact time the earthquake struck the region on March 11, 2011.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attended a memorial service hosted by Fukushima prefecture, offering her condolences and expressing hope for further efforts for recovery in the area, as well as in disaster prevention. The central government stopped hosting memorial services in Tokyo in 2022.

“We will do our utmost to resolve the many issues regarding reconstruction over the next five years for recovery of the affected areas,” Ms Takaichi said, noting that the “third stage of reconstruction and revitalisation” would begin from April.

“We will never let the valuable lessons learnt at the cost of the many victims be forgotten and will endeavour to pass them on to the next generations,” she added.