Minamisōma, Fukushima

Minamisōma (南相馬市, Minamisōma-shi^?) is a city located in Fukushima, Japan. As of May 1, 2011, the city had an estimated population of 68,745^[1]. The city was founded on January 1, 2006, by merging with Haramachi, Odaka, and Kashima.

2011 earthquake and tsunami

Minamisōma was partially inundated by the tsunami which resulted from the Tōhoku earthquake on March 11, 2011, and suffered heavy damage. As of 9 April 2011, 400 residents were confirmed dead, with 1,100 missing.^[2]

Minamisōma is about 25 kilometres (16 miles) north of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the nuclear accident that followed the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Much of the city lies within the mandated evacuation zone near the plant, and thus most of the residents were forced to leave.^[2] Approximately a week after the earthquake Minamisōma was in the news again as the town's mayor Katsunobu Sakarai asserts his people have been ‘abandoned’, in the wake of orders for all remaining residents to stay in their homes inside the exclusion zone around the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.^[3][4]

In July beef from Minamisōma was found to be contaminated with radioactive cesium above the legal limit, according to the Daily Yomiuri.[1]

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Minamisoma,_Fukushima Minamisōma, Fukushima] at Wikimedia Commons

• City of Minamisōma (Japanese)
• Nakano Monument

Response to YouTube video for help:

• Japanese City’s Cry Resonates Around the World - New York Times, April 6, 2011
• Rebuilding Minami Soma - October 22, 2011

References