While a looming nuclear accident has captured the media's attention, death toll grows, millions without running water, heat
A Japanese police officer estimated some 1,000 bodies were found scattered along the shoreline in Miyagi prefecture. The official death toll now sits at 2,800 but the grim tally is expected to increase dramatically. Approximately 10,000 people died in Miyagi prefecture alone, according to the provincial police chief.
Meanwhile millions of people in the northeastern part of Asia’s richest nation are heading into their fourth straight night without food, water, electricity and heat. Conditions like these haven’t been seen in Japan since the Second World War.
Speaking of the looming nuclear accident, What Is A Nuclear Meltdown? Link.
National Geographic has published 20 Unforgettable Pictures about the tsunami.
The multi-faceted crisis is taking its toll on the economy.
The worst devastation from the earthquake and tsunami is concentrated in the northeast of Japan, but the economic effects of the earthquake and tsunami could expand further. On Tuesday, Japan's stock market took its worst dive since the fall of 2008. Global companies, such as Toyota, have halted significant portions of their output.
The Bank of Japan plans to pumps a staggering $245 billion dollars into the economy to stabilize it. Mind you, in Japan, the government bank can just do this.
All is not bad news, though.
So far, the response to Friday's earthquake and tsunami has been better than the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake thanks to better official communications between Tokyo bureaucrats and politicians and local governments, and also the existence of the Internet and social media.
Having lived through the Kobe quake and its aftermath, this means a lot to me personally. More importantly, it provides great reason to believe that some good will come from this tragedy. The authorities will take concrete and real steps to improve the safety regs on the nuclear power plants.
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Notes
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