Japan honours victims of 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster

Addis Ababa, March 11, 2021 (FBC) -Japan has paid tribute to the nearly 20,000 victims of a powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck the country 10 years ago, destroying entire towns and triggering the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Carrying bouquets, many people walked on Thursday to the coast or graves to pray for relatives and friends who died in the triple disaster, while a minute’s silence was held nationwide at 2:46 pm local time (05:46 GMT) – the precise moment the 9.0 magnitude quake hit off Japan’s northeast coast on March 11, 2011.

The tremor triggered a huge tsunami that swept far inland, causing meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee as radiation spewed into the air.

The annual memorial event was held before a smaller audience than usual, with the capital and nearby areas currently under a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Aljazeera