A Japanese daily says the population in the eastern part of Japan has seen a sharp drop following the massive earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March last year.

The Asahi Shimbun reported that since the disaster, the total population among 45 administrative districts in the region has fallen by 65-thousand or two percent. The newspaper said nearly 80 percent of the residents leaving the area are in their 30s or younger.

The finding was made through a comparison of resident registries between March and December. The decreasing population includes those who died during the earthquake and successive tsunamis.