Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Great East Japan Earthquake: Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery

Abstract

The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred in 2011, was the worst complex disaster in human history that brought serious and multidimensional psychosocial effects on many people in Japan. First, the tsunami struck the coastal area of the Tohoku region and subsequently resulted in the explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In this chapter, these two tragic events and their psychosocial consequences are described. We especially focused on the nuclear disaster in Fukushima because of its long-term and serious effects on people living in or out of Fukushima Prefecture and the worldwide concern it brought. Also, in order to more deeply understand the current complicated situation in Fukushima, we reviewed three major nuclear accidents, including one which occurred in Japan. The various psychosocial reactions associated with the nuclear disaster in Fukushima can be summarized within five main issues: posttraumatic stress response, chronic anxiety and guilt, ambiguous loss, separated families and communities, and stigma. We offer recommendations for effective intervention to mitigate adversities, including mothers’ anxieties and guilt feelings, the stigma against the Fukushima people, and exhaustion and burnout of the local staff.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Asukai, N., Kato, H., Kawamura, N., Kim, Y., Yamamoto, K., Kishimoto, J., et al. (2002). Reliability and validity of the Japanese-language version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-J): Four studies of different traumatic events. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 190(3), 175–182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beehler, G. P., Baker, J. A., Falkner, K., Chegerova, T., Pryshchepava, A., Chegerov, V., et al. (2008). A multilevel analysis of long-term psychological distress among Belarusians affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Public Health, 122(11), 1239–1249. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2008.04.017.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boss, P. (1999). Ambiguous loss: Learning to live with unresolved grief. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bromet, E. J.(2012). Reflections on the mental health consequences of nuclear power plant disasters and implications for epidemiologic research in northeast Japan. Japanese Bulletin of Social Psychiatry, 21, 222–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bromet, E. J., Goldgaber, D., Carlson, G., Panina, N., Golovakha, E., Gluzman, S. F., et al. (2000). Children’s well-being 11 years after the Chornobyl catastrophe. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57(6), 563–571.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bromet, E. J., Havenaar, J. M., & Guey, L. T. (2011). A 25 year retrospective review of the psychological consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Clinical Oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain)), 23(4), 297–305. doi:10.1016/j.clon.2011.01.501; 10.1016/j.clon.2011.01.501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corrigan, P. W., Watson, A. C., & Barr, L (2006). The self–stigma of mental illness: Implications for self-esteem and self-efficacy. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25(8), 875–884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dew, M. A., & Bromet, E. J. (1993). Predictors of temporal patterns of psychiatric distress during 10 years following the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 28(2), 49–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dew, M. A., Bromet, E. J., Schulberg, H. C., Dunn, L. O., & Parkinson, D. K. (1987). Mental health effects of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor restart. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144(8), 1074–1077.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foster, R. P., & Goldstein, M. F. (2007). Chernobyl disaster sequelae in recent immigrants to the United States from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Journal of Immigrant Minority Health, 9(2), 115–124. doi:10.1007/s10903-006-9024-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gamache, G. L., Levinson, D. M., Reeves, D. L., Bidyuk, P. I., & Brantley, K. K. (2005). Longitudinal neurocognitive assessments of Ukrainians exposed to ionizing radiation after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 20(1), 81–93. doi:10.1016/j.acn.2004.03.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glionna, J. M. (2012). A year after tsunami, a cloud of distrust hangs over Japan: The Fukushima nuclear disaster has left residents doubting their government, their source of energy, even the food they eat. Los Angeles Times, 11 March, http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/11/world/la-fg-japan-quake-trust-20120311. Accessed 20 Jun 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Havenaar, J. M., Rumyantzeva, G. M., van den Brink, W., Poelijoe, N. W., van den Bout, J., van Engeland, H., et al. (1997). Long-term mental health effects of the Chernobyl disaster: an epidemiologic survey in two former Soviet Regions. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(11), 1605–1607.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heiervang, K. S., Mednick, S., Sundet, K., & Rund, B. R. (2010). Effect of low dose ionizing radiation exposure in utero on cognitive function in adolescence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(3), 210–215. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2010.00814.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heiervang, K. S., Mednick, S., Sundet, K., & Rund, B. R. (2011). The psychological well-being of Norwegian adolescents exposed in utero to radiation from the Chernobyl accident. Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & Mental Health, 5, 12. doi: 10.1186/1753-2000-5-12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houts, P. S., Tokuhata, G. K., Bratz, J., Bartholomew, M. J., & Sheffer, K. W. (1991). Effect of pregnancy during TMI crisis on mothers’ mental health and their child’s development. American Journal of Public Health, 81(3), 384–386.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Igumnov, S., & Drozdovitch, V. (2000). The intellectual development, mental and behavioural disorders in children from Belarus exposed in utero following the Chernobyl accident. European Psychiatry, 15(4), 244–253.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). (1999). Report on the preliminary fact finding mission following the accident at the nuclear fuel processing facility in Tokaimura, Japan. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/TOAC_web.pdf. Accessed 14 Nov 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). (2006). Chernobyl’s legacy: Health, environmental and socio-economic impacts and recommendations to the governments of Belarus, the Russian federation and Ukraine, 2003–2005. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/Chernobyl/chernobyl.pdf. Accessed 7 Aug 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Atomic Energy Agency (2008). The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. Retrieved from http://www-ns.iaea.org/tech-areas/emergency/ines.asp. Accessed 24 June 2015.

  • Ishigaki, A., Higashi, H., Sakamoto, T., & Shibahara, S. (2013). The Great East Japan Earthquake and devastating tsunami: An update and lessons from the past great earthquakes in Japan since 1923. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 229(4), 287–299.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • JNPA (Japanese National Police Agency). (2012). Damage situation and police countermeasures associated with 2011 Tohoku district—off the Pacific Ocean Earthquake. Retrieved from http://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/higaijokyo_e.pdf. Accessed 24 June 2015.

  • Kasl, S. V., Chisholm, R. F., & Eskenazi, B. (1981a). The impact of the accident at the Three Mile Island on the behavior and well-being of nuclear workers: Part II: Job tension, psychophysiological symptoms, and indices of distress. American Journal of Public Health, 71(5), 484–495.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kasl, S. V., Chisholm, R. F., & Eskenazi, B. (1981b). The impact of the accident at the Three Mile Island on the behavior and well-being of nuclear workers; Part I: Perceptions and evaluations, behavioral responses, and work-related attitudes and feelings. American Journal of Public Health, 71(5), 472–483.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kawakami, N. (2007). National Survey of Mental Health measured by K6 and factors affecting mental health status (in Japanese) in research on applied use of statistics and information. Health Labour Sciences Research Grant Report 2006/2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Borges, G., & Walters, E. E. (1999). Prevalence of and risk factors for lifetime suicide attempts in the national comorbidity survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56(7), 617–626.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Barker, P. R., Colpe, L. J., Epstein, J. F., Gfroerer, J. C., Hiripi, E., et al. (2003). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(2), 184–189.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kitajo, T. (2011). Effects of Fukushima nuclear accident on children in Fukushima. Nishoikaiho, 42, 119–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konishi, T., & Inamoto, E. (1999). The impacts of the residents near Tokaimura on the mental health consultations after the nuclear accident. In T. Yoshikawa (Ed.), Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant report: PTSD research of residents after the disasters (pp. 10–18). (Japanese). https://mhlw-grants.niph.go.jp/niph/search/NIDD00.do?resrchNum=199900066A#selectHokoku. Accessed 24 June 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kyutoku, Y., Tada, R., Umeyama, T., Harada, K., Kikuchi, S., Watanabe, E., Liegey-Dougall, A., Dan, I. (2012) Cognitive and psychological reactions of the general population three months after the 2011, Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. PLos One, 7(2),:e31014. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Litcher, L., Bromet, E. J., Carlson, G., Squires, N., Goldgaber, D., Panina, N., et al. (2000). School and neuropsychological performance of evacuated children in Kyiv 11 years after the Chornobyl disaster. Journal Child Psychology Psychiatry, 41(3), 291–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loganovsky, K., Havenaar, J. M., Tintle, N. L., Guey, L. T., Kotov, R., & Bromet, E. J. (2008). The mental health of clean-up workers 18 years after the Chernobyl accident. Psychological Medicine, 38(4), 481–488. doi:10.1017/S0033291707002371.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maeda, M. (2012) Difficulties of the staff working at Hibarigaoka Psychiatric Hospital in Minami-Soma. Rishoseisinigaku, 41(9), 1183–1191. (Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Maeda, M., & Oe, M. (2014). Disaster behavioral health: Psychological effects of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident. In K. Tanigawa and R. K. Chhem (Eds.), Radiation disaster medicine (pp. 79–88). Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miura, I., Wada, A., Itagaki, S., Yabe, H., & Niwa, S. (2012). Relationship between psychological distress and anxiety/depression following Great East Japan Earthquake in Fukushima Prefecture. Rinsho-seishinigaku, 41, 1137–1142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishio, A., Akazawa, K., Shibuya, F., Abe, R., Nushida, H., Ueno, Y., et al. (2009). Influence on the suicide rate two years after a devastating disaster: A report from the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 63, 247–250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parkinson, D. K., & Bromet, E. J. (1983). Correlates of mental health in nuclear and coal-fired power plant workers. Scand J Work Environ Health, 9(4), 341–345.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • President’s Commission on the accident at Three Mile Island. (1979). The need for change, the legacy of TMI: Report of the President’s Commission on the accident at Three Mile Island. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince-Embury, S., & Rooney, J. F. (1995). Psychological adaptation among residents following restart of Three Mile Island. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8(1), 47–59.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rahu, K., Rahu, M., Tekkel, M., & Bromet, E. (2006). Suicide risk among Chernobyl cleanup workers in Estonia still increased: An updated cohort study. Annals of Epidemiology, 16(12), 917–919. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2006.07.006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raphael, B. (1986). When disaster strikes: How individuals and communities cope with catastrophe. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Save the Children. (2012). Fukushima families: Children and families affected by Fukushima’s nuclear crisis share their concerns one year on. http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/JAPAN_FUKUSHIMA_FAMILIES_REPORT.PDF. Accessed 25 Jun 2013.

  • Shigemura, J., Tanigawa, T., Saito, I., & Nomura, S. (2012). Psychological distress in workers at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants. JAMA, 308(7), 667–669.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taormina, D. P., Rozenblatt, S., Guey, L. T., Gluzman, S. F., Carlson, G. A., Havenaar, J. M., et al. (2008). The Chornobyl accident and cognitive functioning: A follow-up study of infant evacuees at age 19 years. Psychological Medicine, 38(4), 489–497. doi:10.1017/S0033291707002462; 10.1017/S0033291707002462.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • The Reconstruction Agency Report. (2014). http://www.reconstruction.go.jp/topics/main-cat2/sub-cat2-1/20131224_kanrenshi.pdf. (Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomita, N., & Nakajima, S. (1999). Mental health of the affected residents. In T. Yoshikawa (Ed.), Health and labour sciences research grant report: PTSD research of residents after the disasters. (Japanese). https://mhlw-grants.niph.go.jp/niph/search/NIDD00.do?resrchNum=199900066A#selectHokoku. Accessed 24 June 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viel, J. F., Curbakova, E., Dzerve, B., Eglite, M., Zvagule, T., & Vincent, C. (1997). Risk factors for long-term mental and psychosomatic distress in Latvian Chernobyl liquidators. Environmental Health Perspectives, 105(Suppl 6), 1539–1544.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weathers, F. W., Litz, B. T., Herman, D. S., Huska, J. A., & Keane, T. M. (1993, October). The PTSD checklist (PCL): Reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility. In International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (Ed.), Annual convention of the international society for traumatic stress studies. San Antonio: International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization Report. (2013). Health risk assessment from the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami based on a preliminary dose estimation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yabe, H., Suzuki, Y., Mashiko, H., Nakayama, Y., Hisata, M., Niwa, S. I., et al. (2014). Psychological distress after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident: Results of a mental health and lifestyle survey through the Fukushima Health Management Survey in FY2011 and FY2012. Fukushima Journal of Medical Science, 60(1), 57–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada, M., & Izumi. S. (2002) Psychiatric sequelae in atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki two decades after the explosions. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 37(9):409–415.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yasumura, S., Hosoya, M., Yamashita, S., Kamiya, K., Abe, M., Akashi, M., et al. (2012). Study protocol for the Fukushima Health Management Survey. Journal of Epidemiology, 22(5), 375–383.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yokoyama, Y., Otsuka, K., Kawakami, N., Kobayashi, S., Ogawa, A., Tannno, K., et al. (2014). Mental health and related factors after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. PLoS One, 9(7), e102497. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102497.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Disaster Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan

    Masaharu Maeda MD, PhD

  2. Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kurume University, School of Medicine, 830-0011, Kurume, 67 Asahimachi, Japan

    Misari Oe MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Masaharu Maeda MD, PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Misari Oe MD, PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masaharu Maeda MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Louisiana State University Dept. Psychology, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Katie E. Cherry

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Maeda, M., Oe, M. (2015). The Great East Japan Earthquake: Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster. In: Cherry, K. (eds) Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18866-9_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation