People who have taken shelter at evacuation facilities in northeastern Japan since the March 11 quake and tsunami are finding themselves living under harsh conditions. The central and local governments must make strenuous efforts to deliver aid and personnel to those places as soon as possible. The death of evacuees because of a delay in help must be avoided at any cost.
The number of people who died or are unnacounted for due to the magnitude-9 quake and subsequent tsunami topped 12,000 in 12 prefectures, most of them in the Tohoku region of Honshu, according to the National Police Agency. This is the first time since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake that the number of quake, tsunami and fire victims has surpassed the 10,000 mark. In the 1923 disaster, more than 105,000 people died or went missing.
More than 80,000 members of the Self-Defense Forces, the police and firefighting brigades are engaged in rescue and relief operations. Some 26,500 people have thus far been saved.