starguard
Unluckiest Charm in the Box
Majority of Japan tsunami dead were older than 60
TOKYO – New data from Japan's National Police Agency show that two-thirds of the victims identified so far in last month's tsunami were elderly — and most of them drowned.
The agency said in a release this week that as of a month after the March 11 disaster, 65 percent of the 11,108 confirmed fatalities of known age were 60 or older.
Another 1,899 identified victims were of unknown age.
Adding those who are still missing, the earthquake and resulting tsunami killed an estimated 27,500 people.
The agency also reported that nearly 93 percent of the victims had drowned. Others died from fires, being crushed or other causes.
The earthquake and tsunami hit the rural, northeastern coast where there were higher concentrations of elderly residents.
I know that this sounds like a very shitty thing to say, but from what I understood before this disaster took place, Japan's economy was on a downward spiral where over 1/3 of their residents between the age of 19 and 25 were out of work. Those that did have work were often burdened with the responsibility of caring for their elders as well as their own siblings. Now that many of the elders are gone (I know this sounds horrible), this should free up the burdens of their younger caretakers and also make room for their youth to advance up their social ladder.
I know it sounds shitty, but every dark cloud has a silver lining