Rescue and recovery efforts after the nuclear disaster in Japan are being stymied by a nearly overwhelming array of obstacles, as government and aid groups struggle with the physical devastation of last week's earthquake and tsunami, the specter of radiation dangers and harsh weather conditions.
"The huge challenge for the aid workers on the ground is just the operating conditions they are dealing with," said Kirsten Mildren, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "Search and rescue workers are saying they've never seen anything like this.
Mildren said the tsunami that followed last week's magnitude 9.0 earthquake "took everything in its path. … The level of destruction is just monumental and you've still got flooded areas, and now on top of that you've got this rain and this snow."
The need in Japan is extreme, the United Nations reported. The nearly 45,000 refugees crowded into 2,444 shelters don't begin to tell the story: Tens of thousands of other residents have been forced from the area. About 1.6 million households are without water in 12 prefectures. Temperatures are below freezing in much of the area. Anxiety is rising over radiation leaks from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors.
일본 3·11대지진 1주일
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant
3·11 대지진이 일본 관동·동북 지역을 휩쓴지 1주일 째인 18일. 후쿠시마 원자력발전소 폭발로 인한 ‘핵 공포’가 가시지 않고 있다.
일부 피해 지역의 경우 전기·가스가 공급돼 수퍼와 식당이 문을 열고, 버스·철도 등 교통·통신이 정상화되고 있지만 인명 구조 작업은 지지부진하다. 강진에 이은 쓰나미에 마을 전체가 휩쓸려 간 경우가 많기 때문에 구조할 대상 조차도 남아 있지 않은 경우가 대부분이기 때문이다.
일본 경찰청이 발표한 18일 오후 5시 현재 사망자는 6548명, 행방 불명자는 1만354명이다. 이는 가족이나 친지 등을 통해 사망·행방불명 신고가 이뤄진 경우만 집계한 것이다. 따라서 가족이 한꺼번에 지진·쓰나미 피해로 사망 또는 행방불명됐을 경우에는 이 집계에서 빠진다.
일본방위성과 NHK등 일본 언론에 따르면 공식 집계에서 빠진 행방불명자는 최소 2만3000명, 최대 3만3000명에 이른다. 이와테현 오쓰치(大槌)에서 1만명, 미야기현에서 2만2000명(이시마키 9000명, 미나미산리쿠 8000명, 오나가와 5000명)의 생사가 아직 확인되지 않고 있다.
이들이 살았던 지역의 남아 있는 건물에 대한 수색이 진행되고 있는데, NHK는 고립 지역에 1만6000여명이 남아 있을 가능성이 있다고 보도했다. 하지만 앞으로 구조에 투입됐던 자위대 병력이 구조보다는 이재민 지원에 치중할 것이라는 보도가 나오고 있어 생존자가 얼마나 더 구조될 지는 미지수다.따라서 이번 강진·쓰나미로 인한 사망·실종자 수는 4만~5만에 이를 수 있다는 비극적인 전망까지 나오고 있다. 1995년 있었던 한신·아와지 대지진 당시 사망자는 6300여명이었다.
3·11 대지진이 일본 관동·동북 지역을 휩쓴지 1주일 째인 18일. 후쿠시마 원자력발전소 폭발로 인한 ‘핵 공포’가 가시지 않고 있다.
일부 피해 지역의 경우 전기·가스가 공급돼 수퍼와 식당이 문을 열고, 버스·철도 등 교통·통신이 정상화되고 있지만 인명 구조 작업은 지지부진하다. 강진에 이은 쓰나미에 마을 전체가 휩쓸려 간 경우가 많기 때문에 구조할 대상 조차도 남아 있지 않은 경우가 대부분이기 때문이다.
일본 경찰청이 발표한 18일 오후 5시 현재 사망자는 6548명, 행방 불명자는 1만354명이다. 이는 가족이나 친지 등을 통해 사망·행방불명 신고가 이뤄진 경우만 집계한 것이다. 따라서 가족이 한꺼번에 지진·쓰나미 피해로 사망 또는 행방불명됐을 경우에는 이 집계에서 빠진다.
일본방위성과 NHK등 일본 언론에 따르면 공식 집계에서 빠진 행방불명자는 최소 2만3000명, 최대 3만3000명에 이른다. 이와테현 오쓰치(大槌)에서 1만명, 미야기현에서 2만2000명(이시마키 9000명, 미나미산리쿠 8000명, 오나가와 5000명)의 생사가 아직 확인되지 않고 있다.
이들이 살았던 지역의 남아 있는 건물에 대한 수색이 진행되고 있는데, NHK는 고립 지역에 1만6000여명이 남아 있을 가능성이 있다고 보도했다. 하지만 앞으로 구조에 투입됐던 자위대 병력이 구조보다는 이재민 지원에 치중할 것이라는 보도가 나오고 있어 생존자가 얼마나 더 구조될 지는 미지수다.
자위대 10여명 목숨건 근접작전
17일 오후 7시 35분. 자위대가 소방차를 동원해 후쿠시마(福島) 제1원전 3호기 폐연료봉에 대한 냉각수 살포작업이 시작됐다는 소식이 전해지자, 일본 열도 곳곳에서 환호성이 터졌다. 최악의 상황으로 치닫는 원전사고를 막을 수 있는 첫번째 작업이 이뤄졌기 때문이다.폐연료봉은 플루토늄 239와 잔류 우라늄 235 등 강력한 방사성 물질을 포함하고 있는데다 뚜껑조차 없다. 16일부터 온도가 급격히 상승해 대재앙이 시시각각 다가오는 긴박한 상황이었다. 기타자와 도시미 방위청장관이 "3호기는 냉각수가 바닥나 폐연료봉에서 방사능이 뿜어져 나오는 한계 상황"이라고 말할 정도였다.
이날 오전 19명의 자위대원을 태운 헬기 2대가 원전 상공을 날았다. 전날 헬기 살포 자체를 포기했던 자위대원들은 방사능 오염을 막기 위해 헬기 바닥에 납을 깔고, 오염측정기를 단 방호복까지 갖춰 입었다. 하지만 방사능 오염이 너무 심해 원전 상공을 지나가면서 물을 투하하는 방식을 택했다. 바람이 세게 부는데다 너무 높은 곳에서 투하해 대부분 빗나갔다. 40분 동안 4회에 걸쳐 물을 투하했지만 방사능 오염도는 변화가 거의 없었다. 사실상 실패였다. 하지만 아사히신문은 "비상하게 위험한 상황에서 자위대가 4번이나 물을 투하한 것은 정말로 대단한 결단이었다"는 자위대 간부의 말을 전했다. 헬기에 이어 경찰기동대가 데모진압용 물대포를 몰고 접근해 3호기에 냉각수를 퍼부었다. 하지만 폐연료봉에 물이 도달하진 못했다. 이 두 번의 실패에 국민들은 망연자실했다.
이날 아침 자위대와 경찰, 원전기술자 등 '원전 사수 결사대'가 투입된다는 소식이 전해지자 인터넷 게시판 등에는 "결사대가 사고가 확대되는 것을 막아주세요", "당신들만 믿습니다" 등 격려의 글들이 쏟아졌다. 일본 정부는 이날을 마지막 기회로 보고 한때 50명까지 줄었던 원전 작업반원을 300명까지 늘리는 등 총 500여명을 투입했다.
또다른 낭보도 전해졌다. 도쿄전력 직원 320명이 새벽부터 매달린 냉각장치 가동을 위한 긴급 송전선 복구작업도 상당 부분 이뤄졌다. 지진·쓰나미에 이은 원전 악몽에 시달리던 일본 국민들에게 희망이 빛이 보이기 시작했다.
Provincial Residents Cope with Disaster
Shelter Box: Help Japan in Crisis
Old Woman Escapes Tsunami by Bike
Old Woman Escapes Tsunami by Bike
Seawalls Fail Japanese Community
A man walks past a car wedged into a boat in Ishinomaki on Friday. Residents are starting to return to their homes to begin the massive clean-up operation.
Officials scan people for radiation, 60 km west of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, in Koriyama on Friday. Japan battled a nuclear and humanitarian crisis as engineers worked to restore power to a stricken atomic plant, while the toll of dead and missing from the quake and tsunami topped 16,000.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers and residents transport metal barrels containing heating oil after they were delivered to a shelter for survivors Minamisanrikucho, Miyagi Prefecture on Friday.
Japanese soldiers unload food aid from a U.S. helicopter that was dispatched from the USS George Washington near a shelter in the earthquake and tsunami-hit town of Minamisanriku on Friday.
A crying man takes pictures of a devastated area in Minamisanriku, northern Japan on Friday.
Exactly one week on, a group of rescue workers observes a minute of silence to mourn for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, Japan, on Friday, March 18.
A woman surveys the damage after the earthquake on March 17, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. Residents were allowed back to their homes today and began the massive cleanup operation
Government officials walk down a recently cleared road of Kesennuma when the earthquake-spawned tsunami caused a massive fuel spill and fire
A Japanese woman wait to pay the cashier at a 7-eleven in Ishinoseki.
On the Tohoku Expressway between Sendai and Torioka, a man waits in line for gasoline.
People lined up for gasoline at a filling station Thursday in Ichinoseki. A cold snap brought a heavy blizzards over country's northeast overnight, covering the tsunami-razed region in deep snow and vital highways in treacherous black ice. 
A rescue team from Taiwan searches for survivors in Ofunato.
The devastated town can be seen from a cemetery on a hill in Otsuchi.
A resident walk through the rubble of homes in Kesunnuma.
An emergency worker cycles past debris in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture.
The interior of the control tower at Sendai Airport, March 17, 2011
Evacuees sort through secondhand clothes in Minamisanriku city, March 17, 2011
Rescue workers from Japan's Self-Defense Forces dig though the debris of houses that were destroyed in Minami Sanriku, in Miyagi prefecture,
People look for their belongings in a collapsed house in Miyako, in Iwate prefecture
People look for their belongings in a collapsed house in Miyako, in Iwate prefectureA resident stands on the ruins of a home in Kesennuma, in Miyagi prefecture,
An emergency worker throws disinfectant in an area affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Miyako
The Sasaki family carries some of their personal belongings. Their home in Rikuzentakata was destroyed.
A young survivor searches the ruins of her family home for any belongings in the leveled city of Minamisanriku
Rescue workers search the ruins of the residential area of Otsuchi.
the city of Sendai was in ruins.
A destroyed graveyard in the ravaged town of Natori.
A cow lies in debris near the destroyed village of Saito on March 14, 2011.
Earthquake victims line up outside a supermarket in Shiogama.
Survivors of the disaster lie wrapped in blankets at the Red Cross operations center in Miyagi prefecture.
A woman takes care of her children at a shelter for earthquake-affected people in Sendai.
Members of Japan's Self-Defense Forces carry out rescue work in the city of Kesennuma
Debris covers a large area in Natori, near Sendai.
Residents evacuated from areas surrounding the Fukushima plant comfort one another during a check for radiation contamination.
Black smoke billows from a burning oil refinery.
A Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopter rescues people in Minamisanriku.
Video's Taken inside a Car that was abruptly Swarmed by the Tsunami
Tsunami Tosses Ship at Port
Dramatic Video Shows Tsunami Survivors Rescue
Food, Gas Scarce in Tokyo
An aerial shot shows snow covered Sendai city on Friday.
U.S. soldiers and civilians remove debris from the harbor of Hachinohe on Friday
U.S. soldiers and civilians remove debris from the harbor of Hachinohe on Friday.
Firefighters march toward assigned areas to search for victims in Rikuzentakata, on March 18.
Caskets are placed at a mortuary in Rifucho, northern Japan, Friday.
Family members stand in front of their collapsed house in Onagawa, Friday.
Australian rescue workers take a break after searching for bodies in Minamisaririku, Miyage prefecture on Friday. Analysts say power blackouts due to the deepening nuclear crisis could hinder recovery.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team members arrive in Japan on Friday.
A man walks through debris as he searches for gasoline in Rikuzentakata, Friday.
Fire trucks converge in preparation to spray water at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear on Friday. Smoke billowed from a building at the crippled plant Friday as emergency crews worked to reconnect electricity to cooling systems on the overheating nuclear fuel rods.
Thick white smoke billows from the No.3 unit of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant Thursday.
Passengers lined up at Narita International Airport for a flight bound for Sydney
A soldier pray during a snowfall before removing a body of tsunami victim
The Tohoku Expressway is nearly deserted near Chojagahara as such roads are closed to all but emergency and other essential traffic.
A firefighter sprays water to clean a street in Yamada.
Evacuees waited for food at a temporary shelter in Kesennuma on Thursday.
Miwako Onodera, third from left, fed her daughters Hiyori, 8, and Yuine, 4, as her sick father, Tetsuo, second from right, was helped by his wife, Hitomi, at a shelter in Kesennuma
A woman sifted through the rubble of her home on Thursday in Kesennuma.
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, where military fire trucks began spraying cooling water on spent fuel rods on Thursday.
Rescue workers prayed over a body retrieved from the rubble in Rikuzentakata on Thursday.
An older Japanese woman walked through a destroyed residential area in Rikuzentakata.Survivors Confront Japan's Enormous Loss
Why Japan has a Resilient Culture?
Tsunami Overwhelms Rural Hospital
Endless Block of Rubble in Japan
Total and Utter Devastation
A woman cries after her mother's body was found in Onagawa on Friday.
Passengers waits in long line to check in for flights at Narita Airport, Tokyo
Kikuo Nomura walked past destroyed houses in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture
Japanese firefighters checked a damaged hospital in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture.
Australian rescue workers and a dog searched for bodies in Minamisaririku, Miyagi Prefecture.
A survivor exited his damaged home through his window in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture.
Kesennuma and its harbor were destroy by quake and tsunami.
A ship was swept onto the dock by tsunami in Kesennuma.
A man carries a bucket of water to flush a toilet at a city government office. Kesnenuma's water system sustained severe damage in Friday's earthquake.
the devastated city of Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture on March 17.
Kensennuma
Firefighters search for survivors in the snow in Minamisanriku
People stand in driving snow as the yait for a bus to leave town in Sendai, Japan, March 17, 2011.
Lights are turned off during rolling blackouts in Misato City, Saitama Prefecture, after an earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan, March 18, 2011.
An elderly man sits on a chair among rubble in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, March 18, 2011.
Emergency workers walk past survivors sitting near debris in Rikuzentakata, March 18, 2011.
Residents walk on a road past debris in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, March 18, 2011.
A woman shops for food from almost empty shelves at a supermarket in Morioka
Rescue workers salute next to a body they retrieved from the rubbles in Rikuzentakat
Residents walk past wrecked cars piled up by the tsunami, on a street in Tagajo,
People look at a truck that hangs on the edge of a pier in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture
Foreigners flee out of Japan for fear of radiation exposure
Japan's Self Defence Force soldiers search for missing people in a snow-covered field in Miyako
A family walks in a snoewfall through the tsunami and earthquake damage in Kamaishi on March 17, 2011.
People line up in the snow to buy food and daily necessities outside a supermarket in Sendai
People use melting snow for portable toilets in Onagawa, northern Japan, Thursday, March 17, 2011,
Japanese citizens line up for gas at a filling station in Ichinoseki in Iwate prefecture on March 17, 2011, as basic supplies remain scarce in regions heavily effected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Braving snow, an elderly woman carries water bottles on her bicycle in Rikuzentakata,
An aerial view taken from a helicopter from Japan's Self-Defence Force shows damage sustained to the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex in this handout Japanese military helicopters and fire trucks poured water on the overheating nuclear facility on Thursday and the plant operator said electricity to part of the crippled complex could be restored in a desperate bid to avert catastrophe.
A resident searches through the remains of her home near Miyako port.
A brother and sister stand looking at the space their house once occupied in Rikuzentakata.
A man carries belongings in Minamisanriku, Japan.
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기