With Japan marking the seventh anniversary
on Sunday of a deadly earthquake and tsunami
that killed more than 15-thousand people and
triggered a nuclear meltdown,... the area
itself is still struggling to get back on
its feet... even all these years later.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
March 11th, 2011,... at 2:46 PM, a magnitude-nine-oh
earthquake,... the biggest ever recorded in
Japan's history,... and one of the five most
powerful earthquakes recorded in the world,
struck off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture.
The deadly tsunami that followed,... killed
more than 15-thousand people,... and triggered
a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear plant,... rendering most of the surrounding
area uninhabitable.
Fast-forward seven years,... and although
reconstruction has steadily progressed,...
more than 70-thousand people remain displaced,
still living in temporary housing.
Some areas surrounding the nuclear plant continue
to be too dangerous due to high radiation,
and the decommissioning of the crippled reactors
remains a problem for operators.
It's a task that's likely to take decades
and cost tens of billions of dollars.
To mark the anniversary,...
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, along
with Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko took
part in a ceremony in central Tokyo,... while
a moment of silence was observed throughout
the nation at 2:46PM,... the time when the
disaster changed the lives of tens of thousands
of people.
Meanwhile,... despite concerns over seafood
contamination from Fukushima prefecture,...
Thailand has become the first country to receive
a shipment of fresh fish from the area,...
as a 110-kilogram shipment of fresh flounder
was exported there late last month.
This comes after the World Trade Organization
upheld a Japanese complaint against South
Korean import bans and additional testing
requirements on Japanese seafood due to the
Fukushima nuclear disaster,... as Seoul vowed
to appeal the ruling and keep the ban in place.
Despite becoming the first country to import
seafood from Fukushima,... Thai consumers
remain concerned,... as the shipment was meant
to be served in sushi and sashimi dishes at
a dozen Japanese restaurants in Bangkok.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
