Japan Press Weekly

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2011 December 14 - 20 [GREAT EAST JAPAN DISASTER]

960 died following 3.11 disaster

A recent survey shows that although having survived the March 11 quake and tsunami, 960 people have died of post-disaster shocks and worsened health conditions associated with chronic illnesses induced at temporary evacuation shelters. The figure is expected to increase further.

Disaster victims can receive up to 5 million yen in condolence payment, including disaster-induced deaths. The government, however, has no explicit definition of a disaster-induced death. Therefore, the definition and payment criteria differ among local municipalities, which produces mixed feelings among bereaved family members.

In Iwate, 69 deaths have been recognized as disaster-induced, out of 170 applications for such recognition by the local government. In Miyagi, 434 out of 746 applicants, 448 out of 735 in Fukushima, and 9 out of 26 in Ibaraki have been authorized as such. More than 650 applications are now waiting for or in the process of examination.

These cases include: death at a shelter due to pneumonia; death from cold; soaked by the tsunami and unable to warm oneself; death from stress from the quake and the nuclear accident; suicide due to post-quake loss of job.

In the meantime, many disaster victims have not been recognized and their family member’s death not recognized as disaster-induced. A 60-year old man whose wife died of a return of her cancer, expressed his dissatisfaction, saying “Her medical treatment was delayed because of the tsunami and its aftereffects.”

The husband and wife took shelter at a school gymnasium after the severe quake on March 11. They reposed on a blanket and cardboard set on the floor, where people passed by with their shoes on, stirring up a lot of dust. The cold was severe and the wife suffered from fits of coughing. The husband asked to have her transported to a hospital by a Self-Defense Force vehicle, but the municipal official declined his request, saying that there were patients in more serious condition.

He had her see a doctor at the temporary shelter, but proper medication was not available. Three days later, the wife came down with a high fever and was at last taken to a hospital. The diagnosis was that her liver cell cancer had spread to the brains, but there was no physical strength left in her to resist the anti-cancer drugs. The wife died forty days after the disaster.

The husband applied for her death to be recognized as disaster-induced. The judgment was that it was possible that the post-disaster lack of decent medical treatment could have accelerated her death but this fell short of being recognized as a causal factor in her death.