00:00Japan on Tuesday commemorated the 14th anniversary of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami
00:12that claimed over 20,000 lives and triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
00:20At 2.46 p.m., the exact moment the earthquake struck, people across northeastern Japan observed
00:26a moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives in the disaster.
00:31Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attended a memorial ceremony in Fukushima to pay respect to the
00:36victims and pledged to strengthen Japan's disaster resilience.
00:40I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Japanese government for
00:47their response to the disaster, for their thorough response to all disasters, for strengthening
00:53the disaster response system, and for improving the living conditions in evacuation centers.
00:57I will do my best to establish a new disaster zone and make it the world's largest disaster
01:01zone.
01:03The March 11, 2011 disaster triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, with
01:09three reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi plant, 220 kilometers northeast
01:15of Tokyo, suffering meltdowns.
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