60-day hike to make a map of disaster area

November 9, 2012

High school students walk coast to draw map showing damage in Fukushima

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121109p2a00m0na018000c.html

IWAKI, Fukushima -- Local high school students here have walked along the coastline to draw a map showing in detail how areas in this city were damaged by the March 2011 tsunami with the aim of making their hometown disaster-resistant.

About 15 members of Fukushima Prefectural Iwaki High School's astronomy and geosciences club spent 60 days, walking in areas along the 60-kilometer Pacific coastline from the Hisanohama to Nakoso districts of Iwaki to examine traces of tsunami damage and interviewed about 600 people including local residents.

Based on their surveys and interviews, club members have confirmed the areas flooded by the tsunami and the height of the waves.

Anna Shinka, a second-year student, played a key role in creating the map. Shinka recalls that Shinmaiko beach in the city's Taira-Shimokabeya district, where she often played in her childhood, was devastated by the tsunami. She said her parents, both schoolteachers, told her how sad they feel about losing some of their students to the disaster.

She then came up with the idea of creating the map after realizing that "even high school students can do something" for disaster victims.

Her family initially voiced opposition to her activities because aftershocks continued to rattle the region and radiation levels remained high. However, she went ahead with the plan and felt the weight of her responsibility as she interviewed those who lost their family members to the tsunami.

During the surveys, club members noticed that there are differences in the extent of damage depending on areas in the city.

Tsunami waves surged up an irrigation canal in the northern Yotsukura district, flooding an extensive area along the canal.

Seawalls in the Taira-Usuiso and Taira-Toyoma districts were washed away by the tsunami and low-altitude neighborhoods in these areas were devastated.

In the Onahama district, many old houses that were not built on elevated land were flooded by the tsunami.

In the southern Yotsukura district, an anti-tide forest and the Yokokawa River helped minimize the flood. Moreover, there were few casualties in the Ena district because the local community had repeatedly conducted disaster-prevention drills involving residents.

These are discoveries that Shinka and other members of the high school club made during their survey and interviews.

Some organizations and individuals extended a helping hand to the club in creating the map.

The Iwaki Natural History Association, comprised of former members of the club, accompanied the club members in their surveys and interviews, while the Fukushima Coast Guard Office provided a bathymetric chart to the club.

Furthermore, Tohoku University professor Fumihiko Imamura, a tsunami expert, explained the mechanism of tsunami, such as propagation speeds and their directions, to them.

Shinka and other members then repeated experiments using a hand-made tsunami-generation device, and clarified what spread the damage from the tsunami.

Based on their studies, the club members created a hazard map that includes the height of seawalls and plans to utilize land for disaster-prevention measures, such as the creation of anti-tide forests.

Using the map, the club intends to make recommendations on disaster-prevention measures to the municipal government and communities hit by the tsunami and said, "The tragedy shouldn't be repeated."