Outbreak means no government memorial on tsunami anniversary

摘要

Some residents along the Japanese northern coast stood on roadsides overlooking the sea, offering silent prayers for their loved ones lost in a massive earthquake and tsunami nine years ago today. But in Tokyo and many other places around Japan, the day was being remembered without a main government ceremony due to the new coronavirus outbreak. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated large swaths of Japan's northern coast and triggered a meltdown at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, contaminating large areas and dislocating many residents. For the past eight years, residents and officials have gathered at local town halls to pray, while in Tokyo, the government held a main memorial attended by members of the imperial family, televised live nationwide. This year, memorial events have been called off following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's request to cancel, postpone or downsize gatherings as part of measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak. In Tokyo, Abe and his ministers gathered at his office and offered a silent prayer at 2:46 p.m. local time, the moment the offshore earthquake struck nine years ago. At the outset of his speech, Abe apologized over the cancellation of the government ceremony. Japan has confirmed more than 1,200 cases of the new coronavirus, including 696 from a cruise ship, and 19 deaths.