Evacuation order lifted 12 years after Fukushima earthquake

The Japanese government has lifted evacuation orders from two “hard-to-reach areas” near the Fukushima In-Dai nuclear power plant.

After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan continues to heal the wounds of the surrounding areas that were evacuated due to the nuclear leak from the plant.

In the coastal city of Tomioka, near the power plant, the areas of Yonomori and Osuge, which have been defined as “difficult to return” for 12 years, have been declared “Special Reconstruction Areas.” Therefore, people who were evacuated after the disaster will be able to return to the reconstructed points in the old regions within 2 months after the order is lifted.

‘FINALLY I WILL BE BACK’

Speaking to NHK state television, Ono Koiçi, 75, said he was happy to be able to return to his old life, saying he would go to see the cherry blossoms in the region. Ono said, “When I was thinking of retiring and starting my second life, there was an earthquake and a nuclear accident. Now, after 12 years, I can finally go back to my old life.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu said in a statement that all efforts should be made to rebuild the areas affected by the disaster.

In March 2011, as a result of the magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, 15,900 people died in the northeastern regions. Due to the nuclear meltdown caused by the reactor disaster at the Fukushima Dai-içi Nuclear Power Plant, the residential areas surrounding the plant were evacuated.

As of November 2022, it is known that the number of people displaced by evacuation orders exceeds 30 thousand in the entire region affected by the disaster. (AA)