日本海啸五年之后

AS IT IS 2016-03-12 The Japanese Tsunami¹ Five Years Later 日本海啸五年之后

Five years after a deadly earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, recovery remains² years away.

More than 16,000 people died in the disaster and more than 470,000 were displaced from their homes, says the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Over 2,500 people are still missing and presumed dead. After pressure from survivors³, the Japanese Coast Guard began underwater searches for the missing.

In Fukushima, more than 100,000 families still cannot return home, says the Red Cross Society. This is because of radioactive contamination from the damaged Daiichi nuclear plant.

In Japan, the disaster is known as “3-1-1,” marking the date five years ago.

It was really three disasters rolled into one.

“It started with an earthquake devastating⁴ in itself, then the tsunami, and then the radiation from the nuclear plant,” said Shioko Goto, a Japan expert at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

Goto said the disaster showed the world, "Japanese resilience and Japanese unity⁵.”

But it also showed shortcomings. Among the most notable, the long time it took to stabilize⁶ the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant after it was flooded from the tsunami, Goto said. That process took eight months.

Another, Japan’s dependence⁷ on nuclear power, she said. The disaster forced Japan to close all of its nuclear power plants, leaving parts of the country without electricity.

Goto offered up one major difference from the last major Japanese disaster, the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. In 2011, social media was everywhere, she said.

Social media offered up plenty of “unfounded rumors⁸ and fearmongering,” Goto said.

But it also kept pressure on Japanese authorities to do more.

Chikara Yoshida lost his only son, a 43-year-old volunteer fireman, on March 11, 2011. He and his daughter posted a petition on Facebook to restart underwater searches. It drew over 28,000 signatures, according to the Associated Press.

The Japanese Coast Guard announced that it would resume searches this week.

There have also been complaints that reconstruction⁹ efforts in hard-hit northern Japanese communities have been too slow.

This week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will respond.

“There is no rebirth of Japan without the recovery of northern Japan,” Abe said.

Tadateru Konoe, president of the Japanese Red Cross Society, said it is the elderly who are left behind in temporary housing. The young, found it easier to move on “in search of new opportunities,” he said.

“As these temporary housing sites slowly empty, those who remain are left more vulnerable and more alone as their communities break up,” Konoe said in a statement.

The Japanese economy continues to struggle, though economists¹⁰ differ on how much of the blame rests with the 2011 disaster.

The latest data shows that Japan’s economy declined by 1.1 percent over the last quarter of 2015.

One bright spot has been tourism. Japan reported that visits by foreign visitors increased 47 percent last year, reaching nearly 20 million.

Officials are hopeful of even more growth, with Tokyo ready to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Words in This Story

tsunami – n. a very high, large wave in the ocean that is usually caused by an earthquake under the sea and that can cause great destruction when it reaches land

displace – v. to force (people or animals) to leave the area where they live

presumed – v. to believe something is true, or has happened

devastating – adj. causing great damage or harm

resilience – n. the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens

stabilize – v. to become stable or back to normal

fearmongering – n. someone who spreads scary news, which is often false

resume – v. to continue

opportunity – n. chance to do something

vulnerable – adj. open to harm

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

7 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

8 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》