2,300 tsunami survivors died in the two years after Japan tsunami and nuclear explosion
(03-11 12:14)
Complications associated with stressful living conditions have led to the deaths of 2,303 survivors of the Japan earth quake, tsunami and the Dai-Ichi nuclear plant explosion, government figures show.
Domestic violence and depression have been increasingly noticed in some communities, AFP reports.
In Fukushima prefecture, some 160,000 evacuees are uncertain if they will ever be able to return to abandoned homes around the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, where three rectors melted down and spewed radiation into the surrounding soil, the air and water, AP reports.
Japan marks the second anniversary of the tsunami and nuclear plant meltdown that claimed nearly 19,000 lives. In the natural and man-made tragedies 15,881 died and 2,668 others are unaccounted for.
The 9-magnitude earthquake struck on March 11, 2011 in waters off the northeastern Pacific coast at 2:46 pm local time.
Efforts to rebuild have stagnated. Figures show 315,196 people are still without a permanent home, many in cramped temporary housing units.
Anti-nuclear campaigners Greenpeace say the government has failed to provide enough support to people who fled the radiation, saying some are “in financial ruin and divorces and mental breakdowns are mounting.’’
“They need proper compensation and support to rebuild their lives,'' it said in a statement, urging Japan to phase out the nuclear industry.
The government says the Fukushima plant is stable and no longer releasing radioactive materials. It says food products from the region are checked for radioactive contamination before being shipped to markets.
Despite reassurances, many consumers avoid Fukushima produce.
The government will need up to four decades to dismantle the crippled reactors, while the nation remains undecided over whether to continue using nuclear energy to power the world's third-largest economy.
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