The second Friday in March - Fukushima 1 year later (Part 12)

One year ago the East Japan Earthquake hit, and sent into motion a chain reaction of events that ended many lives and will change the lives of many others for years, if not decades to come. OK, it wasn’t exactly a year ago, but it did happen on the second Friday in March, 2011 at 2:46pm. Then between 3 and 4 o’clock, a tsunami measuring in many places over 30ft high hit all across the coastline, inundating 217 square miles with water, killing thousands and causing damage in the trillions of yen.

The moment the quake hit is a moment frozen in time for me and many others, as big of an event as 9.11 was, but much slower in its build up. Fortunately for me and the millions living in the Tokyo metro area, Kanto and most of Tohoku, Japan has insanely strict building codes. If not for them and the reinforcing that goes into every building constructed in Japan today, the loss in lives would’ve surely been much higher. That of course does nothing to assuage the people who lost friends and family in the quake and tsunami. Nor does it really help with people forced to evacuate from the nuclear disaster, but it still could’ve been worse if not for Japan’s building codes and expertise in construction.

Which makes the situation at Fukushima Daiichi seem all the more surreal. The tsunami made things worse and may have been the direct cause for the meltdowns, but much evidence suggests that damage was done by the quake itself, that the one kind of building we would need (and depend on) to withstand a huge quake, didn’t, when schools, houses, factories and supermarkets surrounding it stood up just fine.

If anything, the aftermath of the quake and nuclear disaster must make us take pause and look at how we build cities and plan for disasters. There are reports of several cities that survived the tsunami untouched when nearby towns were wiped clean off the map, and they were almost all built high on hillsides, above ancient warning markers that told of tsunami that had hit in earlier eras. We must use that knowledge and the horrible tragedy that hit last year to ensure we build better, to avoid the same kind of tragedy if possible.

We must also look at nuclear plants around the world and assess their safety. Just as there are several reactors of the RBMK type (the same as the one at Chernobyl) still in operation today, there are 23 GE Mark I reactors of the same design as Fukushima Daiichi in the US (and 9 more in other places in the world). We have to assess safety in these plants and plants of other designs, especially those in high population areas, like the Indian Point plant near NYC.

Is the disaster done? Far from it. So much still has to be done to clean up the vast area of northeaster Japan that has been contaminated by radioactive cesium and other isotopes. Estimates place the area at around 30,000 square kilometers (around 8% of Japan's area). As for the people displaced, who may never return to their homes, I can only offer my prayers.

And donations. Here is a link to the Japanese Red Cross Society. Every bit helps.