Off Topic - Earthquake and Tsunami Hit Shinchi

Nightmares are things that occur when one goes to sleep. This time however, the nightmare started when I woke up.

As many of you all know, I'd spent the last 3 years living in Japan. I cannot say highly enough of how great of an experience living in Japan was. The main reason why it was so great was because of the people. There are certainly many kind people in America, but the kindness I received in Japan really left an impression on me that I'll never be able to repay.

After being accepted into the JET Program I was sent to teach English in Shinchi, a very rural town on the northern stretch of coastline in Fukushima-prefecture. It was my first taste of living in a small community. We Americans often spout the importance of community, but never have I truly experienced community like in Shinchi. Firstly, the population is only about 8,200 people, so everyone knows everyone. No matter where you go, you are always bumping into people you know, whether it be at the supermarket, the library or just walking down the street. Our junior high school had only 250 or so students, so I also knew all of their names and personalities on a 1-to-1 basis. I worked with many of the same coworkers for 3 years and had very close relations with all of them. Living like this, where everyone knows everyone, is really a necessary component of any community. Not surprisingly, I became one of them.

With most disasters, you don't have any relation to the people involved, so you view things from a detached perspective. In this case, I knew all of the people of Shinchi because I was part of their community. I went on vacations with them, ate at restaurants with them, participated in festivals with them, worked along side them and taught their children nearly everyday.

Shinchi Beach

Shinchi is mostly a fishing town and my house was only a ten minute walk away from the beach. I'd go there on the weekends and take a swim in the summer, sometimes with my students. Near the beach are the houses of many of my students, their parents and even some of my fellow teachers.

Origin of the 8.9 earthquake. Sendai, the city where I always did my shopping and where I met my girlfriend, received waves 10 meters high. Thank goodness she lives far inland.

Yesterday, at around 3PM in Japan time the 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck and sent a tsunami 7 meters tall penetrating as far as 1 km into Shinchi. The tsunami is said to have swept away as many as 500 households just in Shinchi alone. (500 households in a town of 8,200 is devastating.) Since the tsunami struck during school hours and the school is located on a large hill overlooking the town, I'm certain that my former students and coworkers are safe. However, what is certain is that many of them have lost everything to the tsunami. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be looking down from the school terrace and watching all of their homes being destroyed in an instant. They may have also had grandparents still trapped at home when it came.

The tsunami went so far as to reach the train station and even topple over the train. The Japanese military has also stepped in to Shinchi to survey the damage.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110311-00000154-mai-soci

I've sent out emails to everyone, but without power they won't be able to reply. I sincerely hope that they and all of their families are safe, but I know it's just not possible with the magnitude of something this big. I'd be tempted to fly over right now and clean up the wreckage were it not for PA school.

A picture from outside my house pointing towards the ocean. Just behind the tree line is/was a huge housing complex of 100 or so houses lined up along the beach.

Treasure what you have now, because you just never know.



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Update 3/11/2011 9:00 PM

I've lost contact with Hanako. On the news I read that 7 million households are without power and she's affected. The supermarkets are empty as well. At night, it's still nearly zero-degree (Celsius) weather over there and I hope that they can ride it out.

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Update 3/12/2011 8:20 AM

This morning I received an email from one of my former students, Emi. She said that the town is mostly covered in mud and debris and that some students still haven't been reunited with their families. Her house is further up towards the mountains, so her place was ok, but the whole area is without electricity and gas.

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Update 3/12/2011 9:00 AM

Damn. These are some pictures of my neighborhood. I recognize these houses. I lived just just a 1 minute walk from here. My former house is probably gone as well. In Shinchi, they upgraded the height of the tsunami from 7 meters high to up to almost 12 meters high.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/110312/dst11031211440172-n1.htm

The train station which I used to always go to in Shinchi has been completely decimated. The only thing standing is the overpass to get to the other side of the train.

http://www.nikkei.com/news/headline/article/g=96958A9C93819695E3E0E2E7E78DE3E0E2E1E0E2E3E39180EAE2E2E2

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/photos/110312/dst11031222110288-p2.htm

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Update 3/12/2011 3:00 PM

I finally found a video on the web showing an aerial view of the damage in Shinchi. It's quite frightening. I've taken a screen shot of it.

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Update 3/12/2011 5:00 PM

I finally got an email from Hanako. Currently, her house is without electricity and water. The only news that she has gotten has been from the newspaper. It's situations like these where you realize that in a disaster zone it's just a total information blackout.

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Update 3/12/2011 8:00 PM

I got another email from Emi. She mentioned that Eri, one of my favorite students and Emi's friend, had her house completely wiped out. Boats were swept all the way up to international highway 6 (６号線) which runs through the middle of the town. The 3rd year students were supposed to be graduating soon but the junior high school has shut down for now.

In addition, the nearby nuclear power plant seems to be emitting radioactivity. Already 9 people near the plant have got radiation sickness. For now, Shinchi seems to be largely ok, but they have been told to not go outside.

As of right now, there are 13 confirmed dead and still many more missing.

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Update 3/13/2011 5:00 PM

This is a site that shows some before and after pictures of areas that were by the coast in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Included are some pictures of Minamisoma/Haranomachi.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

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Update 3/14/2011 9:00 AM

In some other good news, I received an email from my friend, Mikihiko, living in Furukawa City in Miyagi Prefecture. He says that he's alright but without electricity, gas and water.

I went on to google earth and took a screen shot of Shinchi from last year. I still haven't heard back from anyone else yet.

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Update 3/15/2011 7:00 AM

This morning I got a brief message from my former co-worker, Takezawa-sensei. She's an English teacher at Shoei Junior High School. She said that the teachers and junior high school students are alive, but their largest worry is radiation.

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Update 3/15/2011 7:30 AM

My dad scanned this article from the Fresno Bee about the damage in Soma. I'll still haven't heard any reply from Kajita-sensei who lives there.

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Update 3/15/2011 8:30 AM

The remaining residents in Soma have been ordered to stay indoors to limit their radiation exposure.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110315/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

I imagine the same is true in Shinchi.

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Update 3/15/2011 10:30 AM

I finally got contact with Hanako. Last I heard from her was 4 days ago. Her area is on rolling black outs. She says her water is working but they have no food and the stores are empty. As you may know, in Japan, people don't stock up on food like we do here. Their houses aren't built with pantries. All they have are their refrigerators.

The problem with the nuclear plants is especially troubling. If there's a meltdown, she and all of the people in Fukushima, Miyagi and most of northern Japan have no where to run. The roads are gone, buses aren't running, the trains aren't runinng, Sendai Airport isn't operational and there's no gas to be found anywhere.

I also received another email from Emi in Shinchi. She said that Eri is currently taking refuge at one of the local elementary schools. Her mother was killed and both of her grandparents are still missing. Shinchi is much closer to the nuclear plants and access to Shinchi is impossible. The roads are filled with debris and mud and there's no gas to be found either. The water isn't running either, so who knows how long they can last. Everyone is staying indoors due to elevating radiation levels. The only way to escape would be on foot, which is nearly impossible in the first place.

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Update 3/15/2011 3:00 PM

It looks like another tsunami, this one 3 meters high hit Shinchi and Soma yesterday on the 14th. There probably wasn't much left to destroy.

http://mainichi.jp/select/weathernews/news/m20110314k0000e040039000c.html

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Update 3/16/2011 6:30 PM

I have much reason to believe that Japan is censoring vital radiation level information in Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures. Take a look at the following map:

Notice that both radiation levels in Fukushima and Miyagi are labeled as "Under Survey". In other words, the Japanese government knows the radiation levels but is not releasing it to the public. (There is no reason that the Japanese government wouldn't have this information. Japan is a highly industrialized country so lack of sensors are not an issue and incidentally, these two prefectures are the ones most at risk for radiation fallout.) Covering up this information is a huge mistake. They may believe that by censoring the information they are preventing chaos and pandemonium, but by not releasing the information many more hundreds of thousands of people will possibly be exposed to radiation as soon as the wind changes. Those people include my friends, co-workers, students, my girlfriend and her family. I will never forgive the Japanese government if their silence and censorship lead to more people becoming exposed to radiation.

In addition, the Japanese government has enacted Article 15.

http://www.marksmarketanalysis.com/2011/03/japan-imposes-article-15.html

Japan Imposes Article 15

Japan has banned all its government agencies, including its nuclear regulatory and protection agencies, from issuing any statements about the nuclear crisis situation in Japan, according to Yochi Shimatsu, former editor of the Japan Times.

Statements will only be issued from the senior level of the Japanese government.
"Article 15" is an article unfamiliar to most Japanese, including most Japanese journalists. It is apparently an emergency regulatory clause that allows the senior levels of the Japanese government to stop other Japanese government agencies from communicating with the public and news media, . 

So much for expecting the Japanese government to be honest.

It looks to me like things are falling apart. The government has just now upped the radiation limit that a person can take from 100 millisieverts to 250 millisieverts. I expect that they are doing this to make it look like fewer people have radiation poisoning.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/when-all-else-fails-change-rules-japan-doubles-maximum-dose-allowed-nuclear-workers

Also, Japan and the rest of the world are at odds with regards to damage at the reactors. Japan's government is downplaying events while every other country is reporting events as being more serious. By Japan's recent behavior, I'm inclined to believe the international community and say that things are getting worse.

US says plant's spent fuel rods dry; Japan says no

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110316/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

The US has issued a warning to all US citizens living within 80 km of the Fukushima power plants to leave immediately or stay indoors. The Japanese government's radius is much smaller at 32 km. I'm inclined to believe the US has a better position in this case. 

If you have any relatives, friends or acquaintances living within 80 km of the Fukushima power plants, please warn them to leave or stay indoors if they can't leave.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/16/japan-usa-shelter-idUSLDE72F2HX20110316

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Update 3/19/2011 4:30 PM

Two days ago I finally got word that Kajita-sensei and his family are safe! I wasn't able to contact him directly, but my friend Miki told me so. His email account was through the city of Soma's email server, and that was damaged in the tsunami, so every time I sent him an email it would be returned to me. I still worry about his situation though. Soma is only about 40 km away from the Daiichi Fukushima Power Plant and the Japanese government is still keeping things hush-hush about the situation. I can only hope that he has already evacuated.

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Update 3/24/2011 9:00 AM

More than half of the residents of Soma have left the city.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8403040/Japan-nuclear-crisis-family-refuses-to-leave-home-despite-radiation-threat.html

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Update 3/27/2011 5:00 PM

I finally received an email from Mr. Katsunori. He was the person who looked after me during my first few days upon arriving in Japan and we went to relax at many onsen together. He often invited me to have dinner with his family as well. He has informed me that up to 150 people in Shinchi were killed by the tsunami. A few stores have reopened so food and water are a little more accessible now. He also sent me some pictures he took himself of the devastation in Shinchi.

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Update 4/4/2011 6:30 PM

"Govt did not reveal high level radiation estimate" NHK World English    (22:00 April 4th)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_10.html

Well, looks like I was right yet again, unfortunately. For those who may have doubted my assertion that the Japanese government was censoring radiation levels, here is the nail in the coffin. When it comes to your personal safety in times of crisis, there is no better person out there to look after yourself other than yourself. I'm glad I warned my friends in Japan of the censorship. It may have helped them avoid some amount of radiation exposure.