Experts say its psychological impact is just beginning.
The stress from losing homes, loved ones, and livelihoods in the initial disaster is being compounded by worries over the nuclear power plants. Being ripped away from the world you knew can be devastating.
Dr. Steven Berkowitz, of the Penn Center for Youth & Family trauma Response, says in most disasters, a third of the victims become heroes, and a third cope reasonably well.
However, about a third need serious psychological help.
"Over the long term, it is middle-aged women who seem to fare the worst," says Dr. Berkowitz of a study looking at generational differences in resposes to trauma.
"They are taking care of their parents, as well as their families and kids, often their husbands. So, over time, they become stressed and overwhelmed by the myriad responsibilities they have."
"The elderly are the least vulnerable," Dr. Berkowitz goes on.
"Children and adolescents to do as well as their families if they are young, or their peers if they are teenagers and adolescents," he says.
Dr. Berkowitz saw the trauma of disaster first hand, when he worked with the victims of 9/11, and then with those of Hurricane Katrina.
One complication of large-scale disasters like this, he says, is that they go on & on for a long time.
Right now, the people of Japan may feel disbelief and anxiety. When that wears off, they may feel excitement at the prospect of rebuilding their world. But about 6 to 8 months down the line, they may feel even more stress, when the enormity of rebuilding sinks in.
Although Japan has had a long history of dealing with earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods, the long-term response to this disaster may be different. Most of those alive now were born AFTER World War II, during unprecedented decades of prosperity and wealth.
