On Friday, March 11, 2011, Japan was struck with one of nature’s worst calamities, the fifth
deadliest recorded earth quake since 1900. This was followed by a Tsunami wave, 30 feet high,
which swept in and washed the northeastern coast of Japan. Both these events have rattled the
country to its very core.
Eight days after the tragedy, human death toll has risen to 6911; 10,692 individuals are still missing and 386,789 people have been displaced. Aside from the waste of human lives, a tremendous economic loss has occurred. Houses, buildings, roads and highways have been reduced to rubble. Cars, buses, trucks and trains lie overturned here and there as nothing more than children’s toys lying untidily in a playroom.
One of the biggest apprehension for not only the people of Japan, but also for those living around the globe is the damage to the nuclear power plants, the possible leakage of radiation and its aftereffects on the human life. Japan houses more than fifty different nuclear power plants. One of these, Fukushima Daini plant, has been speculated to have had a partial melt down. Officials have evacuated the residents 12 miles away and they are distributing potassium iodide. This will help in minimizing the effects of radiations by blocking the absorption of radioactive iodide. The reconstruction activities have begun, the bulldozers are in the worst hit areas raking up the rubble. The stress has taken its toll on people as they deal with this great tragedy but Japan is a nation of builders.
The Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, during his televised speech tried to lift up the spirit of his
people saying that they do not have any room for pessimism and that they will rebuild Japan
from scratch once again. The masses are seen demonstrating this in letter and spirit, when on TV screen long but calm and well poised queues of affected population are seen waiting peacefully for their turn to get relief.
deadliest recorded earth quake since 1900. This was followed by a Tsunami wave, 30 feet high,
which swept in and washed the northeastern coast of Japan. Both these events have rattled the
country to its very core.
Eight days after the tragedy, human death toll has risen to 6911; 10,692 individuals are still missing and 386,789 people have been displaced. Aside from the waste of human lives, a tremendous economic loss has occurred. Houses, buildings, roads and highways have been reduced to rubble. Cars, buses, trucks and trains lie overturned here and there as nothing more than children’s toys lying untidily in a playroom.One of the biggest apprehension for not only the people of Japan, but also for those living around the globe is the damage to the nuclear power plants, the possible leakage of radiation and its aftereffects on the human life. Japan houses more than fifty different nuclear power plants. One of these, Fukushima Daini plant, has been speculated to have had a partial melt down. Officials have evacuated the residents 12 miles away and they are distributing potassium iodide. This will help in minimizing the effects of radiations by blocking the absorption of radioactive iodide. The reconstruction activities have begun, the bulldozers are in the worst hit areas raking up the rubble. The stress has taken its toll on people as they deal with this great tragedy but Japan is a nation of builders.
The Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, during his televised speech tried to lift up the spirit of his
people saying that they do not have any room for pessimism and that they will rebuild Japan
from scratch once again. The masses are seen demonstrating this in letter and spirit, when on TV screen long but calm and well poised queues of affected population are seen waiting peacefully for their turn to get relief.
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