Triple disasters

SOMBER CEREMONIES ARE HELD ACROSS JAPAN, AS THAT COUNTRY MARKS TWO YEARS SINCE A HUGE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DEVASTATED THE NORTHERN PART OF THAT COUNTRY.AT A MEMORIAL SERVICE IN TOKYO, ATTENDEES STOOD IN SILENCE TO MARK TWO-46 P-M, THE PRECISE MOMENT THAT THE MAGNITUDE NINE-POINT-OH QUAKE STRUCK OFF NORTHERN JAPAN.THE DISASTER KILLED 19-THOUSAND PEOPLE AND CAUSED THREE NUCLEAR REACTORS AT THE FUKUSHIMA DIA-ICHI NUCLEAR PLANT TO MELT DOWN.ABOUT 300-THOUSAND REMAIN DISPLACED BY THE DISASTER TWO YEARS LATER.JAPAN'S GOVERNMENT HAS PLEDGED TO CLEAN UP THE RADIATION MORE QUICKLY AND REBUILD COMMUNITIES, BUT MANY WHO LIVE CLOSE TO THE NUCLEAR PLANT ARE UNSURE IF THEY'LL EVER RETURN HOME.CARLOTTA BRADLEY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.---------------------------

東日本大震災で犠牲になられた方々に心よりご冥福お祈り申し上げます。

海外メディアは、昨年と比べるとほとんど震災のことは取り上げられなくなった印象でした。ハイチの地震の2年後、BP石油流出事故の2年後の様子を覚えているかと問われたら何も言えない自分がいるので、海外の人々を責めることはできません。

英語メディアの報道ではtriple disasters of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear failuresと東日本大震災の被害の大きさを伝えるさいにtriple disastersという言葉が使われていることに注意がいきました。The most devastating earthquakeとかいうよりも、より具体的に伝わるかもしれません。

observe a moment of silence for the victims（犠牲者に黙とうをささげる）やobserve the second anniversary（2周年を迎える）というように動詞observeもこのような時に使われるのだなと気づきました。

Photos: Japan marks 2-year anniversary of tsunami, earthquake
Posted Mar 11, 2013
By

TOKYO– Amid growing dissatisfaction with the slow pace of recovery, Japan marked the second anniversary Monday of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing and has displaced more than 300,000. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the government intends to make “visible” reconstruction progress and accelerate resettlement of those left homeless by streamlining legal and administrative procedures many blame for the delays.
“I pray that the peaceful lives of those affected can resume as soon as possible,” Emperor Akihito said at a somber memorial service at Tokyo’s National Theater.

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People observe a moment of silence for the victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami during an event at a park in Tokyo, Monday, March 11, 2013.


復興の現状や原発について取り上げることが多い中、ジャカルタポストの記者は、石巻日日新聞の壁新聞を取り上げていました。

Putting pen to paper
Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata
The Jakarta Post
Asia News Network March 11, 2013 1:00 am

As the Japanese observe the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami today, the six poster-sized hand-written papers framed and displayed in a modest gallery in downtown Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture will serve as reminders of the local journalists' resilience to continue reporting their biggest story ever even when modern-day press and printing facilities were crippled.

日本の復興の取り組み、現状、世界の反応などをコンパクトにまとめてくれていたのがブルッキングズ研究所のサイトにあった以下の記事でした。昨年10月の日本政府と世界銀行が開催した仙台ダイアローグのことにも触れていました。なかなか勉強になるレポートやパンフレットがあったので次の記事でご紹介します。

Elizabeth Ferris and Mireya Solís | March 11, 2013 12:00am
Earthquake, Tsunami, Meltdown - The Triple Disaster's Impact on Japan, Impact on the World



Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at a special memorial service at the National Theatre in Tokyo, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, once more, extended condolences.

Prayers and protests around Japan today are marking two years since the triple disasters of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear failures in which almost 19,000 people were killed and 315,000 evacuated.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck on March 11,2011 at 2:46 p.m. in the northeast of the country.

The accompanying tsunami waves surged up the seabed, towering as high as 30 metres in some places where they made landfall and laid waste.

Two years later, almost 300,000 people are still living in temporary housing.

The bodies of more than 2,600 people have never been recovered.

Thousands gathered in Tokyo on Sunday to protest against the continuation of nuclear power.

In the disaster, three reactors of the Fukushima nuclear plant north of Tokyo melted down, in the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Mother Kazuko Nihei, who was forced to leave Fukushima city seven days after the earthquake and tsunami, said: "Nuclear energy accidents are dangerous, with proven effects on the bodies of our children, but they tell us you can go home. I want the rest of the world to recognize the dangers of Fukushima."

The reconstruction budget has been boosted to some 260 billion euros. Memorial speeches by politicians evoked pledges of a better future.