More than two weeks after the unprecedented triple disaster of monster quake, killer tsunami and nuclear crisis struck Japan, the enormity of the catastrophe is becoming clearer. Some 27,000 people are confirmed dead or missing, with more than 2,000 bodies recovered from the sea. About 240,000 are homeless, sheltered in about 1,900 evacuation centers spread mainly across the devastated northeast but also in cities like Tokyo. While aid is reaching ever more of those affected, it is insufficient and too slow. Most of the displaced do not have homes or jobs to return to. The government estimates the cost at $300 billion, which would make it the most expensive natural disaster on record.
Yet Japan is unable to focus on recovery. On Monday morning, March 28, Miyagi prefecture, the worst hit, was shaken by a 6.5-magnitude offshore earthquake that caused a small tsunami (about 0.5 m high). Thankfully, no injuries or damage were reported. More important, the nation and places beyond remain under threat from the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Yukiya Amano, director-general of the Geneva-based International Atomic Energy Agency, told the New York Times the emergency could go on for weeks and possibly even months: "This is a very serious accident by all standards, and it is not over yet."
The latest danger is a high level of radioactivity in pools of water in the complex. As of Sunday, March 27, authorities were unable to pinpoint where the radioactive water was coming from and so were unable to stop it. Compounding the problem: an increase in radiation in the air, which has forced the on-and-off evacuation of workers trying to keep the facility from overheating. Concern is mounting that at least one containment vessel for fuel rods may have been breached.
At a press conference Sunday, a spokesman for the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the utility that runs Fukushima Daiichi, and government officials said water from the No. 2