Japan marks quake anniversary with minute of silence

Cities across northeastern Japan held prayers and a minute of silence on Sunday for the victims of the triple disaster of one year ago to the day.

In Minamisanriku, people gathered at the skeletal remains of the city hall to remember their loved one lost forever in the wall of water that came crashing down on March 11, 2011.

Nearly 20,000 people were killed or are still missing after the 9.0 magnitude tremor triggered a juggernaut of a tsunami that flattened hundreds of kilometers of coast line.

Japanese media estimates that 97 percent of all victims of the triple disaster were killed by the tsunami.

Some were remembered for their heroic stand moments before they died.

“I was standing outside dazed in bare feet, when I listened to my friend urge us to evacuate through emergency radio,” said an unidentified friend of Miki Endo whose friend died in the tsunami. “Then I realized I had to evacuate. I was saved by my friend.”

Endo, a female employee of city hall, is now famous in Japan for having remained at her post until the very last moment on March 11, 2011 calling out on the city’s public announcement system for residents to evacuate ahead of the incoming tsunami.

Others remembered lost family members, some who have not been found yet.

“My brother was a good person,” one unidentified woman told Japanese broadcaster NHK as she prayed at a makeshift altar amid the remaining rubble. “I hope he will come back to us. I wonder where he is now.”

In other towns, the nuclear crisis unleashed by the quake and tsunami was remembered.

The residents of Fukushima city, near the nuclear reactors that melted down as the crisis worsened, worried their troubles would not be over any time soon.

“It will take possibly hundreds of years to clean the air and soil,” said a resident of Fukushima at a memorial there. “While I would want to wish the radiation be cleared, that is not possible.”

All across the country people observed a minute of silence at 2:46 p.m. local time, the time the quake struck.

Some residents also observed another moment at the time when the tsunami hit their hometowns.

The massive magnitude-9 quake and tsunami killed nearly 16,000 and has left nearly 3,300 unaccounted for. The country is still grappling with the human, economic and political costs.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement on the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011.

“One year after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, we honour the memory of the thousands of people who perished due to the devastating events of that fateful day.

“Canada responded quickly in the aftermath of the disasters. Following a request by the Government of Japan, Canada provided emergency relief supplies in the form of woven thermal wool blankets, portable radiation survey meters and dosimeters to help respond to the nuclear emergency.

“On this solemn day, I would also like to convey how much Canadians admire the amazing resilience of the Japanese people in the face of such devastation. Our country continues to be inspired by how the people of Japan — with calm, ingenuity and practicality — are translating iron resolve into reconstruction and recovery.

“Canada considers itself fortunate to have such a strong Asia-Pacific friend and partner and we look forward to building ever closer relations with Japan in the coming months and beyond.”