Fukushima Earthquake And Tsunami

On March 11, 2011 Japan was rattled by a powerful earthquake and tsunami. When the tsunami hit Sendai, Japan thousands of lives were changed forever. The tsunami claimed thousands of lives, destroyed thousands of homes, businesses, and roads and left behind an excessive amount of debris. The impact of the tsunami also caused a major power outage which in turn caused a major nuclear meltdown/explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. With the devastation of that day and the days that followed, would there be long term effects from the nuclear meltdown and explosion on the environment? Shortly following the Fukushima disaster, the government issued mandatory evacuation orders. The only problem with this evacuation order was the government did not realize how severe the damage at the plant would prove to be. Immediately following the disaster, the evacuation only covered a little over one square mile. It wasn’t until a few days later the government extended the evacuation order to about twelve square miles and asking residents who lived within eighteen square miles to stay inside. (What Happened, 2015) The area was not only contaminated by tons of debris left by the …show more content…
Much of the area surrounding Fukushima remained closed off from the majority of the world. This unfortunately will continue for many years to come. “Of the nine municipalities that were evacuated, the town of Hirono became the first to return and resume operations in March 2012.” (Fecht, 2012) The Fukushima disaster has helped to create new and improved laws to help prevent another disaster, however; due to a disconnect between the government and other powerful officials, many of the nuclear plants are being shut down one by one following routine safety inspections. (Lavelle, 2012) As the clean-up continues, look at where they are five years