MORIOKA, Iwate Prefecture--Coastal regions of the prefecture that suffered major damage in the 2011 tsunami have experienced a population decline of 8.3 percent, according to preliminary figures of the first national census taken since the Great East Japan Earthquake.
MORIOKA, Iwate Prefecture--Coastal regions of the prefecture that suffered major damage in the 2011 tsunami have experienced a population decline of 8.3 percent, according to preliminary figures of the first national census taken since the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The results were announced by the Iwate prefectural government here on Dec. 28. All data are based on the number of people living in the prefecture as of Oct. 1, irrespective of whether they are registered as local citizens.
The drop in population from the last census taken in 2010 was experienced by the 12 coastal municipalities of the prefecture that were hit hard by the tsunami that followed the massive March 11, 2011, earthquake. The population of the area declined by 22,761 to 251,325.
The most significant decline in population occurred in Otsuchi, which had its downtown district swamped by the tsunami, at 23.2 percent. This drop was followed by a population loss of 15.2 percent in Rikuzentakata and 15.0 percent in Yamada.
Iwate Prefecture itself experienced a 3.8 percent decline with 50,333 fewer people, down to a total of 1,279,814 prefectural residents.
As the Iwate coast is housing at least 3,800 people working on the reconstruction of the area, the prefecture is expected to lose even more residents as the entire region is rebuilt.