Drawing (some) lessons from 3/11

November 22, 2016

With 3/11 in mind, Fukushima residents evacuate quickly after tsunami warning

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/22/national/311-mind-fukushima-residents-evacuate-quickly-tsunami-warning/#.WDQ2un2Dmos

Kyodo

SENDAI – Residents of Fukushima and nearby prefectures evacuated quickly after Tuesday’s powerful earthquake rattled the Tohoku region, drawing on lessons from the 2011 tsunami disaster that claimed thousands of lives in the same part of northeastern Japan.

After the quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.4, struck shortly before 6 a.m. off Fukushima Prefecture, about 30 residents of Iwaki evacuated to a local school, a designated evacuation shelter 700 meters from the shore, and gathered in classrooms on the third floor.

Nishikihigashi Elementary School in Iwaki urged its students by email to place top priority on taking refuge as emergency sirens wailed.

“A strong jolt came suddenly and the tremor lasted long,” the school’s vice principal said. “We want to ensure the safety of our children.”

The Iwaki Municipal Government introduced an email alert system following the March 11, 2011, mega-quake and tsunami disasters. On Tuesday, it sent messages urging around 15,000 registered residents to evacuate to higher ground.

People evacuating by car caused heavy traffic jams in the city. Some 300 people took shelter at an accommodation on a hill.

“I was prepared but never expected a strong earthquake like this would come again so soon,” said Hiroshi Niitsuma, a 46-year-old company employee who lost his home in the 2011 disasters.

Kazunori Yoshida, the 65-year-old head of an Iwaki fisheries cooperative, said some member ships sailed further out to sea after receiving tsunami warnings.

“Because we experienced the great earthquake (of 2011), we were able to act calmly,” he said.

About 30 vessels had been operating since early morning off the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to collect underwater debris. Yoshida said there were no reports of damage from the tsunami.

A 1.4-meter-high tsunami was observed at Sendai port in Miyagi Prefecture.

Tohoku Electric Power Co. instructed its employees at a waterfront thermal power plant in Miyagino Ward in the city of Sendai to go to the third floor or higher.

“I saw surging tsunami from the window,” an employee said.

At a manufacturing plant in the area, workers who finished their night shifts were told to remain inside. Around 60 employees stayed in a dining room on the second floor of the factory.

“I decided that if I leave now, I could be engulfed by a tsunami,” one worker said.

A surge of water flowing up a river was observed in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture.

JR Sendai Station was crowded with people after train services were suspended. “I can’t go home,” said Tadashi Takahashi, a 65-year-old restaurant owner.

“The strong tremor reminded me of the (2011) disaster,” said Shoetsu Chiba, 67, a farmer from the city of Ishinomaki, which was devastated by the 2011 disasters. “I hope there is no damage (this time).”

In Higashimatsushima, another city in Miyagi, some 160 residents evacuated to a civic center on a hill.

“Because my town was swallowed up by the (2011) tsunami, I thought I have to go to higher ground,” said 61-year-old Keiko Sakurai.

At another shelter in the city, Setsuro Sugawara, 66, a municipal assembly member, said: “I always have a bag of disaster kits prepared. My experience in the (2011) disaster worked.”

In Sendai, authorities built 10-meter-high facilities for evacuees in coastal areas following the 2011 tsunami. On Tuesday a total of around 100 people temporarily evacuated to the three two-story structures known as tsunami evacuation towers.

“A number of people came (to the evacuation towers) in a real situation, not for a drill,” a city government official said. “We were able to apply lessons” from the past.

But evacuations were not as smooth in the city of Natori, also in Miyagi. While some residents tried to evacuate to the city hall, security guards refused their entry as no tsunami warning had been issued.

“They let us in only after negotiating for an hour. Their response was slow,” said 42-year-old Azusa Arakawa.

Hatsumi Ohisa, the head of the city’s disaster prevention division, admitted that the response was a mistake, saying, “Even when a tsunami warning was not issued, we should have opened (the government office) if requested.”

November 22, 2016

Northeast Japan dodges bullet from M7.4 quake

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/22/national/m7-4-earthquake-off-fukushima-triggers-widespread-tsunami-alert/#.WDQ2Cn2Dmos

Kyodo, Reuters, Staff Report

A powerful earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Tuesday morning, briefly disrupting nuclear fuel cooling functions at the Fukushima No. 2 power plant and generating tsunami of over 1 meter in the region that was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster five years ago.

The 5:59 a.m. quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 is believed to be an aftershock of the March 2011 mega-quake, the Meteorological Agency said.

It was the first quake with a magnitude of 7 or bigger to hit Japan since July 2014. The agency warned that there may be similar-scale quakes for around a week.

A tsunami measuring 1.4 meters high was observed at Sendai port in Miyagi Prefecture and a wave of about 1 meter reached the coast near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant that was crippled by the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.

Authorities instructed residents in coastal areas to evacuate to higher ground and hundreds of schools canceled classes. Over 3,000 people fled to evacuation centers in Fukushima Prefecture.

“The sound of sirens brought back memories of the huge earthquake (in 2011),” said Tomomi Nagakubo, 48, who drove her car to an evacuation center in Ibaraki Prefecture with her 13-year-old son.

According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, a total of 17 people in Fukushima, Chiba, Tokyo and Miyagi prefectures were injured as a result of the quake. They included an 82-year-old woman in Chiba who fell down some stairs in her home and fractured her hip. In Fukushima, three people were injured, two of whom were elderly women who tripped and suffered broken bones.

The cooling system for the spent fuel pool in the No. 3 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 2 power plant stopped working but was restarted about 100 minutes later, according to operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.

“I have been informed that it will not immediately lead to a radiation leak or an increase in the temperature of the fuel,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a news conference in Tokyo.

Equipment to measure dust for radioactive materials at the Fukushima No. 2 complex also stopped working, but Tepco said the glitch did not cause any serious problems.

No abnormalities were observed at other nuclear plants in northeastern Japan, according to Tepco and other power companies. Reactors at these nuclear plants have been offline.

Sixteen small boats were overturned off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, the Japan Coast Guard said, adding no one was believed to be onboard.

All tsunami warnings and advisories were lifted as of 12:50 p.m., the Meteorological Agency said.

The quake, which also shook the Tokyo area, measured lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Fukushima, Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, the agency said.

It was the first time since December 2012 that the agency issued a tsunami alert due to an aftershock from the 2011 quake.

Television footage showed ships moving out to sea from harbors as tsunami warnings wailed after alerts of waves of up to 3 meters were issued.

“We saw high waves but nothing that went over the tidal waves,” a man in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, told NTV.

Aerial footage showed tsunami flowing up rivers in some areas, as well as the overturned fishing boats in the port of Higashimatsuyashima, Miyagi Prefecture.

The focus of the quake was about 25 km under the seabed in the Pacific Ocean off Fukushima, the agency said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a news conference in Buenos Aires that the government will assess the damage and keep the public informed.