TOKYO — Japan fell quiet at 2:46 p.m. March 11 to mark the minute that an earthquake began 10 years ago, setting off a tsunami and nuclear crisis that devastated the country’s northeast coast in a disaster that one survivor said he fears people are beginning to forget. Carrying bouquets of flowers, many walked to […]
Ten years and still recovering
March 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Ten years have passed since the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The coastal towns are almost unrecognizable with new buildings, roads and bridges. When I visit these towns, I am in awe of how they have been rebuilt so quickly. I am again reminded of how beautiful this region and ocean are. Many […]
EXPLAINER: How dangerous is the Fukushima nuke plant today?
March 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment
OKUMA, Japan — A decade ago, a massive tsunami crashed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Three of its reactors melted down, leaving it looking like a bombed-out factory. Emergency workers risked their lives trying to keep one of history’s worst nuclear crises from spiraling out of control. Proper equipment has now replaced ragged […]
Japan braces for aftershocks as M7.3 quake injures over 150
February 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — Japan’s northeastern region braced for aftershocks Feb. 14 following an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 overnight that injured more than 150 people, cut power and water, and disrupted bullet train services, with some residents looking weary as they tidied up the mess in their homes and shops. No deaths were attributed to the […]
Death toll from Hokkaido quake rises to 41
September 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
TOKYO — The death toll from a powerful earthquake that jolted Hokkaido last week rose to 41 on Sept. 10, with thousands of people still staying in shelters on the country’s northernmost main island, authorities said. The Hokkaido government said in the evening that a man in his 50s was confirmed dead in Tomakomai, following […]
Many still struggling 6 years after quake, nuclear disaster
March 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment
TOKYO — Survivors pledged to reconstruct their hometowns March 11 on the sixth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in northeastern Japan, with many still struggling to rebuild their lives. “I never imagined I would be living in temporary housing for six years,” said Hirotoshi Masukura, a 61-year-old evacuee from an off-limits […]
Earthquake experts urge Californians to prepare for future disasters
December 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment
LOS ANGELES — In the wake of a series of small Southern California seismic events that prompted a state agency to issue a major earthquake alert, a panel of disaster management leaders urged residents to insure their property and take other steps to get prepared. The appeal was made by representatives of the American Red […]
A journey to say goodbye in Tohoku
July 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
When the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye By Marie Mutsuki Mocket (New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2016, 336 pp., $16.95, paperback) “Perhaps it is possible, then, to see through more than one set of eyes …” Expected to speak and behave as a Japanese once she boarded the plane from America, […]
Hundreds of volunteers arriving to help quake-hit Kumamoto
April 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
KUMAMOTO, Japan — Hundreds of volunteers arrived in Kumamoto and other prefectures in southwestern Japan on April 22, seeking to help people in some of the areas hardest-hit by the continuing series of earthquakes. Some 1,000 people reported to Kumamoto city, the first batch of volunteers to be accepted by the prefectural capital, as the […]
Half of 2011 quake, tsunami evacuees say local recovery lagging
March 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
SENDAI — More than a half of evacuees from the March 2011 quake and tsunami feel local recovery from the disaster has been insufficient, according to results of a Kyodo News survey released Feb. 11. The rate of respondents who said recovery has not been substantial was 54 percent in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures […]
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