As of May 14, there were 141 orphaned children in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures as a result of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which devastated much of the region.

By comparison, 68 children were reported to have lost both parents in the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Some reports show that some 500 children lost at least one parent in the March 11 catastrophe, compared with some 330 children in the Kobe quake. The number of children who lost one or both parents March 11 could increase as more data are collected.