“I do not have a job. There are no jobs. Nobody cares for us in Nigeria. My people borrowed and contributed money for me to pay the driver that takes people to Mali and across the border to Libya. From there, I hope to cross over to Italy or Spain with the boat.
Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, churning up a devastating tsunami that swept over cities and farmland in the northern part of the country and set off warnings as far away the west coast of the United States and South America. Recorded as 9.0 on the Richter scale, it was the most powerful quake ever to hit the country. As the nation struggled with a rescue effort, it also faced the worst nuclear emergency since Chernobyl; explosions and leaks of radioactive gas took place in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station that suffered partial meltdowns, while spent fuel rods at another reactor overheated and caught fire, releasing radioactive material directly into the atmosphere. Japanese officials turned to increasingly desperate measures, while their American counterparts gave a far more dire appraisal of the dangers.
