Minamisōma
Minamisōma (南相馬市, Minamisōma-shi) is a city located in Fukushima, Japan. As of May 1, 2011, the city had an estimated population of 68,745[1]. The city was founded on January 1, 2006, by merging with Haramachi, Odaka, and Kashima.
2011 earthquake and tsunami
Minamisōma was partially inundated by the tsunami which resulted from the Tōhoku earthquake on March 11, 2011, and suffered heavy damage. As of 9 April 2011, 400 residents were confirmed dead, with 1,100 missing.[2]
Minamisōma is about 25 kilometres (16 miles) north of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the nuclear accident that followed the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Much of the city lies within the mandated evacuation zone near the plant, and thus most of the residents were forced to leave.[2] Approximately a week after the earthquake Minamisōma was in the news again as the town's mayor Katsunobu Sakarai asserts his people have been ‘abandoned’, in the wake of orders for all remaining residents to stay in their homes inside the exclusion zone around the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.[3][4]
In July, beef from Minamisōma was found to be contaminated with radioactive cesium above the legal limit, according to the Daily Yomiuri.[1]
On 15 April 2012 the people of Minamisōma were able to return to their homes. A ceremony was held for police and volunteers, who would patrol the borders of the no-go-areas. The checkpoints at 20 kilometer distance from the reactors were moved to about 10 kilometers from the plant. [5] The little city was divided into 3 zones, in the first people were free to go in and out, in the second access is limited, the third area all visiting was forbidden because of elevated radiation levels that were not expected to go down within 5 years after the accident. Still scattered with ruins, and with no electricity and running water the city was a rather inhospitable place for the population formed by mostly elderly people. Schools stayed closed and hospitals too. [6]
External links
Media related to Minamisōma, Fukushima at Wikimedia Commons
Response to YouTube video for help:
- Japanese City’s Cry Resonates Around the World - New York Times, April 6, 2011
- Rebuilding Minami Soma - October 22, 2011
References
- ^ "Estimated population May 1, 2011". Official Fukushima Prefecture website. Retrieved 29 July 2011.Template:Ja icon
- ^ a b Associated Press, "Eerie quiet reigns in evacuation zone", Japan Times, 9 April 2011, p. 4.
- ^ David Jones (18 March 2011). "Mayor of Town Near Fukushima Nuclear Plant Claims People Abandoned". Dail Mail. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- ^ John M. Glionna (March 31, 2011). "Anger and abandonment in a Japanese nuclear ghost town". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- ^ NHK-World (16 April 2012) Govt. lifts evacuation order for Minamisoma City
- ^ The Japan Times (Tuesday, April 17, 2012) Evacuation order lifted for parts of Minamisoma
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