4 700 Japanese Missing 5 Months after March 11 Earthquake

Japanese fishermen harvest shellfish in a lagoon in Isumi, Chiba prefecture, Japan, 11 August 2011. Local fishermen are concerned about possible future radioactive contamination of the local sea bed due to sea currents from the Fukushima nuclear power pla

Almost 15 700 people have been confirmed dead in Japan as a result of the devastating March 11 earthquake and the ensuing tsunami five months after the natural disaster.

Another 4 700 remain missing, according to latest data from the Japanese authorities.

Japan marked Thursday, August 11, five months since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, with many people commemorating those who perished in the disaster.

"I am reminded strongly once again today that we must work hard toward reconstruction," Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in the morning.

A total of 87 063 evacuees were still scattered across the country's 47 prefectures as of July 28, the Japanese government said, cited by DPA. Of these, 12,903 were still in makeshift emergency shelters such as schools and community centers

The quake that jolted Northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, was followed by a tsunami within minutes, and the twin disasters triggered the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, the world's worst atomic accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.

The plant was damaged by explosions and fires when its cooling system failed, and has been leaking radioactive substances into the environment ever since.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave the area. The government and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co have been struggling to bring the plant under control.

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