Japanese city more resilient, data conscious after disaster

SENDAI, Japan:

DEVELOPING RESILIENCE and a greater appreciation for historical data are ways that a Japanese city ravaged by the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami 11 years ago has recovered and is better prepared for any recurrence.

Lessons from this northeastern Japanese community may have relevance for Jamaica, which could face more natural calamities as a result of climate change.

The disaster struck Japan on March 11, 2011.

Naomitsu Kakui, a disaster prevention specialist, said more than 12 per cent of the population of Natori, in Sendai Prefecture, died in the disaster. His immediate family and both his parents lived in Natori.

The magnitude-9 earthquake was followed by a marauding tsunami that was as high as 8.4 to 13 metres along the coast.

Kakui, 64, told journalists from the Caribbean and Pacific Islands visiting the Natori Citizen Activity Support Centre that 753 died because of the disaster from the villages in and around Natori, which had 7,103 inhabitants.

The tsunami, which occurred an hour and six minutes after the earthquake, killed 709 people in Natori’s Yuriage district, while 37 are still missing after being swept away. The tsunami also claimed the lives of Kakui’s parents.

Kakui said through an interpreter: “Where my father was, there is a water gate over there. My mother tried to walk to an elementary school and it took time for her to get there, so she died before she could get there.”

Kakui was at work in Sendai, and his wife and kids survived because they had evacuated to the Arahama Elementary School. Their home in Arahama was destroyed. Since the disaster, people have been forbidden to build in the area.

“People didn’t know about this (warning) monument, if we knew about this monument probably 753 people wouldn’t die and (would have) survived until today. Here it (monument) says if earthquake happened be careful of tsunami,” Kakui said.

There are now just 1,400 people living in Yuriage, of which 1,000 are native residents.

“The city now is totally different from what it was before the earthquake,” Kakui said.

He believes that choices which were made by the residents ultimately decided their fate.

There was another earthquake just two days before on March 9, but no tsunami. Kakui said some persons had come to believe that one would never happen.

A year before that, there was also a large earthquake in Chile. Again, despite warnings of a tsunami along Japan’s coast, nothing happened.

But there was tsunami further back in time. The monument was placed in Natori after an earthquake in 1933 but many current residents did not know about.

“We have to pass down what ancestors say, and because we didn’t, that is why we had that much death,” Kakui said.

He added that in 1960, a tsunami came from Chile that measured three to five metres.

The disaster in Natori reportedly left a 100 billion yen loss (J$ 102,464,527,100.00) and required over 500 billion yen (JM $512,322,635,500.00) to foster recovery, which was achieved in 2019.

MOVING FORWARD

Today, Kakui and his team at General Incorporated Association Framu Natori continue their work to keep their hometown moving forward. The group’s main objective is community building through various activities, like storytelling and managing a museum about the earthquake.

He is also editor-in-chief of Yuriage Da Yori, a newsletter that has chronicled the city’s journey, including what was lost and the challenges people have prevailed against.

The face of the city if also changing. New apartments with built-in emergency tsunami towers and no rooms on the first floors have been built. They also have a helicopter port to reach the injured.

Old monuments commemorating wars and natural disasters, including the one commemorating the 1933 earthquake, have been reinstalled in Yuriage where people can see them clearly. Adults now explain to children that the monument has tell-tale signs of what can happen.

A monument for the March 2011 earthquake that marks the height of the tsunami that followed has been erected at a separate location. He said the measurement was confirmed using a tree perched on a hill with markings made from debris of the disaster.

“We are talking about these things to visitors and we want to pass this to the next generation, not to repeat the same thing again,” said Kakui.

Like Japan, Jamaica is prone to earthquakes, with the latest occurring on August 8, according to The University of the West Indies Earthquake Unit. While Jamaica’s coastlines are vulnerable, tsunamis are infrequent. However, with climate change, it is better to be prepared.

Just last week, heavy waves of unknown origin reaching a reported six feet high crashed inland, causing quite a stir in Montego Bay, St James.

Meanwhile, Jamaicans living in flood-prone areas and those who are often reluctant to heed evacuation warnings issued by the authorities should pay keen attention to the havoc and devastation that natural disasters can cause.

editorial@gleanerjm.com