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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Clean up begins in northeast Japan

A wasteland of debris, is all that is left of Minamisanriku, a fishing town in Miyagi prefecture. The town, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northeast of Sendai, was destroyed in the 9.0-maginitude earthquake and tsunami it triggered on March 11. Around 398 people in Minanisanriku are dead with another 800 missing, and close to 10,000 residents have evacuated the town leaving it deserted. On Wednesday, residents who stayed behind have begun to clear the pieces of debris and burning them. Several damaged buildings spared by the tsunami were scattered through the town, one had a car left perched on the edge of its roof. Around 5,000 houses were swept away. Authorities have started to lay cables in order to restore electricity a couple of days ago, but the work will take a few days more to complete. Although work is in progress to return the town to a semblance of normalcy, some residents are reluctant to stay on. A total of 11,168 people were confirmed dead by Japan s National Police Agency, while 16,407 were missing. The government is also struggling with an ongoing nuclear crisis, the worst the world has faced in 25 years, at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The government has said it estimated damage from the earthquake and tsunami at 16 trillion to 25 trillion yen ($198 billion-$309 billion), making it world s costliest natural disaster.