2-2 Report on the Great East Japan Earthquake
It has been one month since the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastatedthe Pacific coast of northeastern Japan. As of April 11, records indicate that the disaster has left
13,116 people dead, 14,377 people missing, and 147,536 people displaced and still living underdifficult conditions in evacuation centers. On April 9, the first evacuees began moving into
temporary housing units, and recovery and rebuilding in the disaster-affected areas is graduallyprogressing. The following provides a profile of the earthquake and describes the current state ofrecovery based on a field survey conducted from 21-24 March, and on documents published byvarious government agencies and the mass media.

(1) Profile of the Earthquake- Date and Time: 11 March 2011 at 14:46 JST (5:46 GMT)
- Type of earthquake: Plate-boundary thrust-faulting earthquake on or near the Japan Trench
subduction zone
- Hypocenter: 130km off the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region (38°N, 142°E ), 24km depth- Magnitude: 9.0 (interim value, the largest in Japan)
The areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake are known to be vulnerable to tsunamis, as
they have experienced tsunamis in the past. A large inter-plate earthquake had been predicted forthis region, with a 99% probability within 30 years, at magnitudes ranging from M7.5 to M8.0.
However the March 11 earthquake was much larger than predicted, at a magnitude of M9.0 and arupture zone measuring 500 km long and 200 km wide. This was the fourth-strongest earthquake
ever recorded in the history of the world. Some experts say that this kind of earthquake andtsunami occurs only once every thousand years.
c.f.

1960 Chile Earthquake M9.5, 1964 Alaska Earthquake M9.2, 2004 Sumatra Earthquake

M9.2(2) Damage
The number of casualties continues to rise. The government has confirmed 13,116 fatalities asa result of this disaster. It has already exceeded that of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe)
Earthquake, making it the worst earthquake since World War II. There are 8,017 dead in Miyagi
prefecture alone, accounting for more than half of the death toll. The number of people who are
missing covers only those who have been reported to the police by their families oracquaintances.
The number of evacuees once topped 300,000, but it has been falling as the situation has
stabilized and services and utilities have gradually been restored. The number of casualties inmajor cities and towns is indicated in the table below. There have been more than 1,000
confirmed fatalities in the cities of Rikuzen-Takata and Ishinomaki. There are more than 10,000

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2. Highlights of 2011/2012

evacuees in the cities of Rikuzen-Takata, Kesennuma, and Ishinomaki. The ratio of evacuees isabout 50% in Rikuzen-Takata city and Minami-Sanriku town, indicative of the complete
devastation experienced in these municipalities. The ratio of evacuees is more than 20% in thetowns of Yamada, Otsuchi, and town.
Prefecture

DeadMissing

Evacuees

Iwate

3,811

4,721

45,319Miyagi

8,017

6,416

53,468

Fukushima

1,226

3,236

25,663

Others62

423,086

Total

13,116

14,377

147,536

Casualties by Prefecture (as of April 11)

On the other hand, the value of the destruction of the social infrastructure, housing, andcorporate facilities is estimated at between 16 and 25 trillion yen (Cabinet Office). Most of theprefectures that were most severely affected depend largely on the agricultural and marine
product industries. These key industries were badly damaged. The total damage to farmlands,
agricultural facilities, and agricultural produce is estimated at 520 billion yen. The rebuilding offarmlands is likely to be particularly problematic, since those lands will have suffered salt damage.
As for the fishing industry, 19,000 fishing boats were damaged, and the total damage to theindustry, including boats and facilities, is valued at 350 billion yen. Rebuilding these industrial
bases is of supreme importance for the local economy and job security.

(3) Disaster-Affected Areas
Several disaster-affected areas in Miyagi prefecture were surveyed in March; their situations
are outlined below.

1)Wakabayashi Ward, Sendai City
Wakabayashi ward is located in the coastal area of Sendai city, and was one of the areas
more severely hit by this earthquake. This area has no historical record of any large tsunamis,
and local hazard maps were designed around a maximum tsunami wave height of 3m. In reality,however, a much larger tsunami hit the area. A belt of windbreak forests had been built along
the seacoast as a preparedness measure, and the elementary schools had been designated as
evacuation sites since there are no hills in the area.

7IWATEMIYAGI

Dead

Missing

EvacueePopulation

363

1301

5,301

65,682

Yamada town

456

n.a.

4,347

21,180Otsuchi town

531

1,066

4,533

17,468

Kamaishi city

655

640

6,203

44,632

Ofunato city

274

237

6,290

43,847

Rikuzen-takata city1,032

1,278

13,47426,018

Kesennuma city

600

1,471

12,656

79,675

Minami-sanriku town

360

n.a.

9,390

19,105

Onagawa town

318

851

2,530

11,073Ishinomaki city

2,341

2,698

20,074

171,107

Higashi-Matsushima city

775

n.a.

7,184

43,785

Sendai city

400

n.a.

4,197

1,001,804

Natori city

744

1,000

1,781

68,343

Iwanuma city

149

141

695

43,602

FUKUSHIMA

IBARAKI

TOKYO

City or Town

Miyako city

Source: Based on Mainichi Newspaper
Note: It does not cover all cities and towns.
Population as of April 1, 2010CHIBA

Casualties in major cities and towns(as of April 1)2)Ishinomaki City & Higashi-Matsushima City
Ishinomaki city, the second largest city in Miyagi prefecture (population: 170,000), has aport, a fishing port, and factories owned by such companies as Nippon Paper Industries Co.,
Ltd. The city's downtown area sustained massive damage as a result of the tsunami andresulting fires,

which caused

many casualties.

Thecoastal residential areas ofHigashi-Matsushima city, which is located next to Ishinomaki, also sustained massive damage.

Search activities in Arahama district,Wakabayashi ward (22 March 2011)

The downtown area of
Ishinomaki city
(22 March 2011)

The coastal residential area ofHigashiMatsushima city (22 March2011)3)Onagawa Town
Onagawa town, which is known as Onagawa fishing port, is located in eastern Miyagi

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2. Highlights of 2011/2012

prefecture. Onagawa's downtown area was totally destroyed by the tsunami. Along the coast,
wooden houses were carried away, leaving only their foundations, and even reinforced concretebuildings collapsed. The Onagawa town office is reported to have been inundated to the roof. Ahill just behind the fishing port was designated as an evacuation area. Traces of water were
found inside a hospital located on top of this hill,
indicating that even that area, which is nearly 16 meters high, was not out of reach of thistsunami.

4)Minami-Sanriku Town
Minami-Sanriku town is located in northeastern Miyagi prefecture facing the Pacific Ocean.
The tsunami washed away most of the buildings in the downtown area, completely devastating
the town. At Shizugawa Hospital located near the coast (some 200 meters inland), there wereindications that the tsunami had reached the 5th floor. In an apartment building near theseashore, which had been designated as a tsunami evacuation building, there were traces ofwater indicating that the tsunami had reached the 4th floor.
The disaster management center of Minami-Sanriku, a threestory building, was designed tofunction as a tsunami evacuation building. When the tsunami struck, about 30 municipal
officials evacuated to the rooftop, but only 10 survived. A young official who kept delivering
evacuation notices to the villagers until the very last moment has yet to be found. It was
generally believed that three-story reinforced concrete buildings could be designated as
evacuation buildings, but such structures provided insufficient protection during this disaster.

The coastal area of downtown Onagawa(2011.3.22)

The evacuation route to Onagawa
Municipal Hospital (2011.3.22)

Panoramic view of Minami-Sanriku(2011.3.23)

Disaster management center ofMinami-Sanriku (2011.3.23)

9(4) Effectiveness of Pre-Tsunami Disaster Preparedness Measures
The Pacific coastal areas of Iwate prefecture and the northern part of Miyagi prefecture(Sanriku Coast) are known to be vulnerable to tsunamis, as they had been devastated by thetsunamis that occurred following the 1896 Meiji-Sanriku earthquake, the 1933 Showa-Sanriku
earthquake, and the 1960 Chile earthquake. Various measures, both structural and non-structural,
had been taken in those areas to protect
people and communities from tsunamis. The most notable were the construction of a 10 m highand 2.5 km long dyke in the Taro area of Miyako city, often called “the Great Wall,” and theconstruction of the world's largest breakwater (8 m above sea level, and 63 m deep) in Kamaishicity. The structural measures must have reduced the impact of the tsunami, but were found to be
insufficient to protect people’s lives in this case.
Non-structural measures complement structural measures. The media has reported thatmeasures such as preparedness education and lessons learned from past disasters helped people
escape from the tsunami, as indicated in the following cases. The preparedness education
conducted before the tsunami enabled the pupils at primary and junior high schools in Ishinomaki
city (one of the most severely damaged cities) to successfully escape the tsunami. The Mizuhama
area of Ishinomaki city, which is comprised of 130 households, was completely destroyed by thetsunami.

Magnitude

Epicenter

Killed /Missing

Height ofTsunami(Max)

June 15
1896
March 3Showa-Sanriku
1933

8.2

Off Iwate

21,95938.2 m8.1

Off Iwate

3,064

29.3 mMay 22
1960

9.5

Off Chilein SouthAmerica

142

5.6 m

Earthquake

Date

Meiji-Sanriku

Chile

Major Earthquakes Affecting the Tohoku Region

However, only one person died and eight people were reported missing out of the total
population of 380 residents. This shows that the residents' knowledge of what to do in an
earthquake and their performance of regular exercises and drills helped them survive.
Nearly 150,000 displaced people are staying at evacuation centers, such as community centers,schools, and sports stadiums. This figure does not cover those who are staying in their homes,
cars, or other locations under harsh living conditions. Since the provision of temporary shelters
will take many months and the sanitation conditions at the evacuation centers continue todeteriorate, some local authorities, such as Minami-Sanriku town, have started to temporarily
relocate some evacuees to other places with better living conditions, such as hotels and public
apartments in less affected areas.

102. Highlights of 2011/2012

1) Temporary Housing
On March 14, MLIT asked the Japan Federation of Housing Organizations to construct
30,000 temporary housing units in two months. The construction started in Rikuzen-Takata,
Iwate prefecture on March 19, and the transition of residents into those homes started on April
9. Similar construction efforts have also been launched in other cities and towns, and as ofApril 11, 7,454 temporary housing units were being constructed at 78 sites. Considering thehigh demand, the prefectures have increased the number of required temporary housing units.
MLIT has therefore asked the housing companies to construct another 30,000 units, in addition
to the 30,000 units requested in March.

2) Removal of Debris
The tsunami created a huge amount of debris from collapsed structures, washed away cars,
boats, and other materials, and these have been scattered throughout the tsunami-hit areas.
Debris is still blocking roads and streets. The estimated amount of debris in Miyagi prefecturealone is between 15 and 18 million tons -equivalent to 23 years of waste generated underordinary circumstances. Moreover, there is a growing
concern that the debris could be harmful to human health and the environment as
temperatures start to rise and the rainy season begins in June. The cleanup and disposal ofdebris is complicated by the need to consider many different elements, including cars, boats,
toxic waste, and items of personal value.

3)Bills, Supplementary Budget, and Other Efforts
A Reconstruction Plan Committee was established on April 11 to serve as an advisory bodyto the national government. The government is now preparing some other bills, which propose
various policy measures and necessary mechanisms for full-fledged recovery andreconstruction, which are to be submitted to the Diet (Japanese parliament). The proposals
include the establishment of new institutions to be responsible for the implementation ofrecovery and reconstruction.
The government is also preparing supplementary budget proposals for deliberation in theDiet, which are reported to propose the allocation of more than 10 trillion yen todisaster-related efforts. It is also reported that the government is examining a plan to relocate
residents of tsunami-hit areas to higher ground, where
new communities can be built, and to purchase the areas
totally devastated by the tsunami, since these will not besuitable for the rebuilding of communities.

Evacuation center in Minami-Sanriku (2011.3.23)

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