As in many natural disasters, the old were especially vulnerable in the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, with more than half of those who died in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami 65 or older, according to a survey.
As in many natural disasters, the old were especially vulnerable in the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, with more than half of those who died in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami 65 or older, according to a survey.
According to the survey conducted by The Asahi Shimbun on 7,935 of the roughly 13,000 deaths confirmed by police headquarters in 12 affected prefectures, and whose ages were identified, 4,398, or 55.4 percent were 65 or older.
The percentage was 56.4 percent in Iwate Prefecture, 54.8 percent in Miyagi Prefecture and 57.7 percent in Fukushima Prefecture.
Basic resident register data show that the ratio of elderly people age 65 and older to the entire population in the three prefectures was between 22 percent and 27 percent. That means that the rate of victimization among the elderly was more than double the percentages of elderly residents in these prefectures.
Geographic and demographic characteristics of the Sanriku coast, formed by jagged inlets and small fishing communities whose populations are both shrinking and aging, played a factor in the high death rate among elderly.
Most victims drowned or died from injuries in the tsunami. Many ended up being washed away by the tsunami while trying to escape, or had no one to help them to safety.
In the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, which killed more than 6,400 people, victims 65 or older accounted for 49.6 percent of casualties, many of whom were crushed under collapsed houses.
In the March 11 disaster, 6.7 percent of those who died, or 531, were 18 or younger.
The percentage of victims aged between 7 and 18 was 4.3 percent in Miyagi Prefecture, 4 percent in Fukushima Prefecture and 2.1 percent in Iwate Prefecture.
By comparison, residents aged between 7 and 18 accounted for 11 to 12 percent in these prefectures.
When the earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m., many students were still in school and were evacuated to rooftops or higher ground.
While Monday marks one month after the tragedy, about 15,000 people remain missing, according to statistics collected by the National Police Agency from prefectural police.
The figure does not cover three hard-hit municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture: Sendai, Higashi-Matsushima and Minami-Sanriku. Authorities have yet to confirm figures for these areas.
In addition, requests for searches have not been filed in cases when all family members or relatives went missing. The number of people unaccounted for could increase by thousands, sources say.
Some municipalities have asked chiefs of administrative districts to confirm the safety of their residents.
But Sendai city government officials said they have had problems determining who is where because residents are scattered in evacuation centers and at relatives'homes.
At least 164,000 people remained under evacuee status as of Saturday, many in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, according to figures compiled by The Asahi Shimbun.
Some evacuees fled the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Of the total, about 34,000 have moved to evacuation centers and other places outside their home prefectures.
(This article was written by Yasushi Okubo, Takaaki Ikeda and Norio Yatsu)