Japan marks five years since Tsunami that left 18,500 people dead struck

TOKYO, Friday

Japan paused to mark five years since an earthquake spawned a tsunami that left about 18,500 people dead or missing along its northeastern coast and sparked the worst nuclear disaster in a quarter century.

Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, PM Shinzo Abe and other participants at a national ceremony in Tokyo bowed their heads across the affected region at 2.46pm — the exact moment on March 11, 2011 the magnitude 9.0 quake struck under the Pacific Ocean.

The earthquake unleashed a giant wall of water that swallowed schools and neighbourhoods, with unforgettable images of panicked residents fleeing to higher ground and vehicles and ships bobbing in the swirling waters of flooded towns.

The waves swamped power supplies at Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing reactor meltdowns that released radiation in the most dangerous nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

In the northern city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture — the region that suffered the most deaths — survivors and bereaved family members gathered at a Buddhist statue built for the repose of victims’ souls in front of a huge breakwater at Arahama beach where waves came ashore five years ago.

Some joined hands in prayer, while a woman threw a bouquet into the sea.

Police and firefighters were seen combing that beach and others in continuing efforts to find evidence of victims, including bones, as many families say they still cannot abandon hope of seeing their loved ones.

MARKS SOLEMN EVENT

In remarks at the solemn event in Tokyo held inside the National Theatre, 82-year-old Akihito spoke of those who were forced to evacuate after the disaster because of nuclear contamination.

“I feel pain in my heart when I think of people who still could not return home,” he said.

Some areas remain uninhabitable, though in others, residents have been cleared to return.

The situation remains fragile in Fukushima prefecture, where the nuclear plant suffered explosions that spread radioactive material into the surrounding countryside and ocean.

The crisis forced tens of thousands of nearby residents to flee their homes, farms and fishing boats.

Authorities have since brought the reactors to a state of cold shutdown and dispatched crews to clean affected houses, sweep streets and shave topsoil in decontamination efforts.

Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the plant, admits it has only made small steps in what is likely to be a four-decade battle to decommission the reactors.

Japan’s entire stable of reactors was shuttered in the aftermath of the disaster.