March 11 is a date that has to be remembered by the whole world. It might not seem important, given that the event happened in a tiny island miles away from America, but it is really important if we consider the environmental repercussions as well as the social. A year ago, Japan was victim of two of the most violent natural disasters in the history of humanity: a tsunami and an earthquake.

On top of the millionaire losses this country suffered, they also had to deal with a nuclear leak in the town of Namie. This chain of unfortunate events led to a massive number of death or missing people, some of which are still being located.

The chronicle of the events is breathtaking. Right after the 9.0 offshore earthquake that happened at 14:46, came the waves of unparalleled magnitude to hit the town of Namie. Houses and other properties were dragged by the water along with people who didn’t have time to escape.

Some survivors were heard that night by the rescuers, who decided to stop activities until the following day because they didn’t have any light source. The problem was that they never came back because of the problem with the nuclear plant. Instead, they were sent there to start evacuating people who lived near the facility to avoid a greater damage.

To this day 1,605 people are confirmed dead in Fukushima and 204 are still missing. In Namie the count is 200 dead and 3 missing. The worst part is that a lot of the people who died, starved to death because no one came to help them. There victim count isn't over yet and we shall wait to see the final numbers.

Across the country, there were held a lot of memorial services to honor the victims this Sunday. The prime minister appeared on National Television and urged the country for a faster recovery. He said that Japan had to work to prevent future disasters in order to have a much safer place to live.

No one doubts the greatness of this country. Their life philosophy and their ancestral wisdom has always helped them to cope with any kind of problem. We just need to remember the events of WWII where the cities of Hiroshima and Nagazaki were devastated by the atomic bomb, leading to the end of the conflict at that time. However, the magnitude of the disaster is greater than before and will take some time before Japan rises again.