It is the stillness that is most overwhelming. The rubble has been cleared away. The grass has grown back. But along much of the coastal strip devastated by the tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011, a silence remains. The silence is particularly deep as you approach the areas close to the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station where the levels of radiation are still dangerously high. Five years on, four towns inside the evacuation zone are still uninhabited, and many surrounding areas have experienced drastic population decline. Around 100,000 people from the evacuation zones and other nearby areas are still living as evacuees.
It is the stillness that is most overwhelming. The rubble has been cleared away. The grass has grown back. But along much of the coastal strip devastated by the tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011, a silence remains. The silence is particularly deep as you approach the areas close to the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station where the levels of radiation are still dangerously high. Five years on, four towns inside the evacuation zone are still uninhabited, and many surrounding areas have experienced drastic population decline. Around 100,000 people from the evacuation zones and other nearby areas are still living as evacuees.