Urgent statement on the big earthquake off the Pacific coast of Northeast Japan

In the afternoon of Mar 11, an enormous earthquake hit Northeast Japan, and a number of big afterquakes struck at many places in East Japan. At the night of Mar 12, more than 1700 people have been dead or missing, and serious damages have been caused by the fire or tsunami. The number of victims seems to be increasing, and we still don’t know the whole picture of damages untill now. We offer deepest condolences to all the victims, and we pray their soul may rest in peace. And we request our government to rescue the missing people as soon as possible. We also express sympathy to suffering people. We are going to try our best for you.

Immediate rescue and supports to the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami are in need. It is also necessary to try our best to find and rescue missing or isolated people and to support affected people by all means such as fire department, police, and Self Difence Force. Also, we must take care to avoid secondary sufferings. We ask people near affected areas to take early preventive refuge. Moreover,suffering people need various supports in all phases. All the entities, such as national government, local governments, private sectors and citizens, should construct supporting system, taking into account the needs in the affected area, utilizing experiences in the past earthquakes, and taking our own best roles.

In the meanwhile, we must also take the all steps to stop the nuclear plants runaway which suffer serious damage by the earthquake. The 1st building of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has already exploded and the situation at that time was already worse than supposed when it was designed. We must take the best effort to avoid the worst situation. We request the Japanese government, Nuclear Safety Commission, and Tokyo Electronic Power Company to disclose all the information whether it is sure or not, to suggest all possible scenarios, and to make clear what will be or has been decided.

National Commission of Earthquake research says that this earthquake was so enormous in terms of the magnitude and the range of the area, linked with several seismic zones, that it is beyond assumption of their research. But, the risk of setting nuclear plants in Japan, which is called “the earthquake archipelago”, has been pointed out for several decades. Kashiwazaki nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture was also damaged by 2007 Earthquake off the coast of Chuetsu, which was “beyond assumption”, and many people criticized when they started to operate it again. We should say that the situation now was caused by the nuclear policy which ignored the past experiences and people’s criticisms. We strongly request the government to do a turnaround of the nuclear policy fundamentally and to reexamine nuclear disaster relief program including evacuation plans.

But above all, the priority must be put on the rescue of the people at the affected area. Let all the entities, such as national government, local governments, private sectors, and citizens, take our own best roles, and save as many lives as possible.

Source: http://site.greens.gr.jp/article/44188283.html?1302159236