Earthquake

Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Rebuild

One week after an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan.

Despite the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiishi nuclear plant—officials are now considering burying the damaged nuclear reactors—Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has vowed that the country will rebound. "We will rebuild Japan from scratch," he said in a nationally televised address, comparing the work with the country's emergence as a global power from the wreckage of World War II. "In our history, this small island nation has made miraculous economic growth thanks to the efforts of all Japanese citizens. That is how Japan was built." The earthquake has left more than 6,900 dead so far, exceeding the 1995 Kobe earthquake that killed 6,400. (Officials estimate that more than 10,000 could be dead because 10,700 people are still missing.) In addition, more than 452,000 people were made homeless by the quake, about 343,000 households have lost electricity, and about 1 million homes have no water.