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Image source,Reuters
The 2011 earthquake was the strongest earthquake in Japanese history.
Ten years ago, on a Friday afternoon in March, the strongest earthquake ever hit the east coast of Japan.
The magnitude of the magnitude 9 earthquake was strong. The tsunami caused by the earthquake swept across Japan’s main island, Honshu, killing more than 18,000 people and wiping the entire city off the map.
At the Fukushima nuclear power plant, huge waves broke the defense line and flooded the reactor, causing a major disaster. Authorities established a quarantine area at that time, but with the radiation leak from the nuclear power plant, the quarantine area became larger and larger, forcing more than 150,000 people to evacuate the area.
Ten years later, the restricted area still exists and many residents have not returned to live there. Japanese authorities believe it will take up to 40 years to complete the cleanup job, and this job has cost Japan billions of yen.
Image source,fake images
The tsunami crossed the seawall and hit the nuclear power plant.
Where is the Fukushima nuclear power plant?
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is located in Okuma City, Fukushima Prefecture. It is located on the east coast of Japan, about 220 kilometers (137 miles) northeast of the capital Tokyo.
At 14:46 local time (05:46 GMT) on March 11, 2011, the “Tohoku Regional Earthquake in the Pacific” (“The Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011”) occurred east of Sendai City and 97 kilometers north of the nuclear power plant.
Before the tsunami hit the coast, residents were warned 10 minutes in advance. Due to the impact of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, a total of about 500,000 people were forced to leave their homes.
Image source,fake images
The tsunami caused nuclear meltdown and multiple hydrogen explosions.
What happened in Fukushima?
The nuclear power plant system detects the earthquake and automatically shuts down the nuclear reactor. The emergency diesel generator is turned on to keep the coolant pumping around the core. Even after the reactor stops running, the core is still incredibly hot.
Soon after, a wave about 14 meters (46 feet) high hit Fukushima. The current flooded the defensive jetty and flooded the nuclear power plant and destroyed the emergency generator.
Workers rushed to restore electricity, but in the following days, the nuclear fuel in all three reactors overheats and part of the core melts. This is the so-called nuclear accident.
There were also some chemical explosions at the nuclear power plant, causing serious damage to the building. Radioactive materials began to leak into the atmosphere and into the Pacific Ocean, forcing people to evacuate and the quarantine area continued to expand.
How many people were injured?
Image source,fake images
After the accident, Japanese authorities conducted radiation exposure tests on civilians.
No one died immediately in a nuclear disaster. But at least 16 workers were injured in the blast, and dozens of workers were exposed to radiation while working to cool nuclear reactors and stabilize nuclear power plants.
Three people were reportedly taken to hospital after being exposed to high concentrations of radiation.
The long-term effects of radiation are under debate. A report issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013 stated that this disaster will not cause any significant increase in cancer incidence in the region. Scientists in Japan and abroad believe that radiation risks are still relatively low, except in areas near nuclear power plants.
But many people believe the danger is much greater and residents remain cautious. Although officials have lifted restrictions in many areas, most people have not yet returned to their homes. In 2018, the Japanese government announced that a worker had died after radiation exposure and agreed that his family should be compensated.
However, it was confirmed that some people died during the evacuation, including dozens of hospital patients who had to be transferred for fear of radiation.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster was listed as a seven-tiered event by the International Atomic Energy Agency. This is the highest-level event and the second disaster to reach this level after Chernobyl.
Whose fault is it?
Image source,fake images
The accident sparked great public outrage in Japan and sparked a wave of protests calling for Japan to stop using nuclear power.
Critics blamed a lack of emergency preparedness for the incident and the chaotic response from the Tepco nuclear power plant operator and the Japanese government.
An independent investigation established by the Japanese Diet concluded that the Fukushima nuclear leak was “a profound man-made disaster”, accusing the power company of failing to comply with safety requirements and not developing emergency plans for such incidents. However, in 2019, the Japanese court ruled that three former Tokyo Electric Power executives were not guilty of negligence. This was also the only criminal case in this disaster that went to legal process.
In 2012, the then Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda (Yoshihiko Noda), declared that Japan was jointly responsible for the disaster. A Japanese court ruled in 2019 that the Japanese government should bear part of the responsibility and pay compensation to the evacuees.
How’s the cleaning job going?
Ten years later, several cities in northeastern Japan are still restricted areas. Authorities are working hard to clean up the area so that residents can return to live.
Great challenges remain. Tens of thousands of workers will be needed over the next 30 to 40 years to safely dispose of nuclear waste, fuel rods, and more than 1 million tons of radioactive liquids left at the site.
But some residents have decided not to return because they are afraid of radiation. They have started a new life elsewhere and may not want to return to where the disaster occurred.
According to media reports in 2020, the government may start releasing these leaked liquids into the Pacific Ocean starting next year.
Some scientists believe that huge oceans will dilute the sea and the risk to human and animal health is very low. But the environmental organization Greenpeace said that water contains substances that can damage human DNA. Japanese officials said they have not yet made a final decision on how to dispose of the liquid.
