Japan has held a moment of silence to honor those who were killed in the 2011 earthquake, ensuing tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident. Some 123,000 people who were evacuated have yet to return home six years later.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Tomari
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Survivors stood along a shoreline in north-eastern Japan to observe a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. (0646 CET) on Saturday, the exact minute that the magnitude 9.0 quake struck the region on March 11, 2011.
Following the earthquake six years ago, a massive tsunami destroyed homes and overwhelmed cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant which suffered meltdowns in three of its six nuclear reactors.
"The sea is so quiet today," an elderly woman in the coastal town of Soma told public broadcaster NHK. "Why did it become so rough and send up such big waves on that day?"
Around 100 parents and classmates of children who died during the twin natural disasters released dove-shaped balloons attached with messages in the town of Natori.
"You will forever live in our memories," read one.
The latest National Police Agency figures show that the twin natural disasters left 18,446 people dead or missing. Another 3,500 people died from causes such as illness and suicide in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami, according to government figures.
Many evacuees have yet to return home amid fears over the effects of radiation from the Fukushima plantImage: Reuters/T. Hanai
The struggle to go home
Six years ago, the Fukushima reactor meltdowns led the plant to leak radioactive material into the surrounding area. Over 450,000 people had to evacuate the area in the immediate aftermath.
"Some 120,000 people continue to live as evacuees and still have to go through inconveniences in their lives despite steady progress having already been made" in the reconstruction, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a memorial service in Tokyo.
Abe's government plans to lift mandatory evacuation orders in some areas around the crippled Fukushima facilities after local officials said decontamination work has been completed.
Many locals, however, are hesitant or unwilling to return home due to concerns about the effects of radiation. Only 11 percent of the residents of Naraha, located south of Fukushima, have resumed their lives.
The triple meltdown at Fukushima remains the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
rs/rc (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
How other countries do emergency preparedness
The German government has updated its civil defense plan, requiring residents to stockpile food, medicine and cash. Amid complaints of scaremongering, DW discovers how other countries prepare for emergencies.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Taga
Earthquake drills part of school life in Japan
Elementary schoolchildren across Japan take part in monthly earthquake drills. They learn to get under their desk and hold onto its legs until the tremors stop. Some youngsters are given disaster prevention hoods, which can cushion fragile heads from falling objects. Multistory schools even have chutes for children to slide down to safety.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Taga
Japan leads the way in emergency warnings
Many countries, including the US, have emergency warning systems that can override radio and TV broadcasts with vital public information. But Japan has gone a stage further with its Earthquake Early Warning System. Using the latest technology, it can predict a major tremor up to 50 seconds before it happens. The warnings are broadcast instantaneously, as every second counts when saving lives.
Image: APTV video
Every home's got a panic room!
In Switzerland, all residential buildings built since 1963 are required to have a nuclear bunker. The shelter must be able to withstand a blast from a 12-megaton explosion at a 700-meter distance. In Singapore, one room in most state-built flats is reinforced to serve as a bomb shelter - although not nuclear-proof. In 2012, the government rejected calls to drop the requirement.
Image: picture-alliance/Keystone/M. Ruetschi
Lessons learned from previous disasters
The 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami took the world by surprise. The first major tidal wave in the Indian Ocean in 600 years killed 250,000 people. The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, which was set up following the disaster, has already saved lives in subsequent emergencies. In Thailand and Sri Lanka, new signs point residents towards higher ground in the event of another killer wave.
Image: picture-alliance/Arco Images/F. Schneider
Norway, a reminder to all
Most large cities hold regular terror drills to allow emergency services to prepare for a real attack. But what happens if a rural area is targeted? In 2011, Norwegian authorities were ridiculed for taking more than an hour to reach Utoya island, where Anders Breivik shot dead 69 people. But subsequent plans to station fast-response helicopters around the country have been scaled down, over costs.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Aserud
Health scares can lead to knee-jerk reactions
Over the past decade, growing fears about possible flu pandemics prompted several countries, including Germany and the US, to stockpile medicine. In 2009, billions of euros were spent to build up reserves of the drug Tamiflu, only for its effectiveness against Swine Flu to be later questioned. Critics also warned that many doses could never be used as they had already expired.
Image: picture-alliance/Ulrich Baumgarten
Disasters and disruption to law and order
The survivalist movement, where people actively prepare for emergencies, began in the 1930s. But the internet and the 2007/8 financial crisis helped speed up the global spread of its often apocolyptic warnings. Preppers, as they're known, prioritize worst-case scenarios and then work out ways to survive these threats. Pole Adolf Kudlinski collects tools and supplies for his prep farm (pictured).
Image: picture-alliance/PAP/M. Walczak
Will iodine help in case of a nuclear disaster?
Belgium, the Netherlands and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia are stockpiling iodine tablets in case of a radiation leak. Belgium has admitted its ageing nuclear reactors, near the German border, are to remain in service until 2025, despite growing safety concerns. After the Brussels attacks, fears are mounting that "Islamic State" (IS) may be planning to build a so-called dirty bomb.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
That twister is how close?
Smartphone apps and text messages are now being used to deliver emergency information to the public in several disaster-prone countries, including India and The Philippines. In the US, the Wireless Emergency Alert system can deliver details about national threats, news of local disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes, and alerts about abducted children. Author: Nik Martin