Japan Marks 15th Anniversary of March 2011 Disaster

Natori, Miyagi Pref., March 11 (Jiji Press)--People in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. Wednesday, the exact time when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of the northeastern Japan region 15 years ago, unleashing deadly tsunami waves.

The quake and tsunami disaster on March 11, 2011, which triggered a nuclear accident in Fukushima, left 22,230 people dead or missing nationwide, including those who died from indirect causes. It is the largest natural disaster in postwar Japan.

In the disaster, over 700 people died in the Yuriage district in the Miyagi city of Natori. On Wednesday, residents and others released into the sky about 470 balloons containing messages such as "I won't forget any of you."

Kyoko Tadokoro, 72, a resident of the Miyagi city of Iwanuma, lost her then 31-year-old daughter Megumi Sugai. Saying that the two had "gone everywhere together," Tadokoro added, "I think I can start to move on (15 years after the disaster)."

In the Iwate town of Otsuchi, local resident Takafumi Sasaki, 75, put his hands together at the grave of his younger brother who died at 58 while working as a town official during the disaster.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]