Tens of thousands of people in the Tohoku region are still living in makeshift prefabricated housing units on the sixth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami disaster that triggered the nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture.
As March 11 dawned, some 34,000 residents fell into this category, and many have no hope of returning to their former homes as the tsunami spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated vast coastal areas of northeastern Japan.
Efforts, meantime, are continuing to develop residential land and provide public housing for the victims.
By the end of this month, 69 percent of the development of residential land on elevated ground as well as inland is expected to be completed in the three hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. With regard to public housing, 83 percent of the units will be finished.
The death toll from the 2011 disaster now officially stands at 15,893 with 2,553 people unaccounted for. Deaths attributed indirectly to the disaster come to 3,523.
The triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, triggered by the magnitude-9.0 quake and towering tsunami, forced about 56,000 people in communities around the plant to flee under directions from the government.
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Read other recent stories about the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami as well as the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
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