Japan remembers victims of 2011 tsunami on 5th anniversary
Digital Reporter
Friday, March 11, 2016, 9:41 AM - Japan marks the fifth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country's northeast coast and left more than 18,000 dead or missing.
Tears were shed and many were photographed bowing their heads in prayer as a ceremony took place in Tokyo Friday afternoon. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Akihito both attended the memorial, joining the nationwide moment of silence at the exact moment the quake hit.
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The magnitude 9.0 temblor struck offshore on March 11, 2011. It crippled Japan's Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, leading to the eventual meltdown of three of its six nuclear reactors.
"Many of the people affected by the disaster are aging, and I worry that some of them may be suffering alone in places where our eyes and attention don't reach," Emperor Akihito said at the ceremony.
Five years later and reconstruction is ongoing with some 180,000 people still displaced. As of mid-February, 174,000 evacuees were still living in temporary housing.
On Friday a new 6.5 trillion yen ($43-billion CAD) five-year reconstruction plan was approved by the government to reconstruct areas ravaged by the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
"It is important that all the people keep their hearts together so that not a single person still in difficulty is overlooked and they can return to normal life as soon as possible."