Long-Term Recovery from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster - Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration - page 12

Fig. 1.6 Infi ll Resettlement Development type (Source: City of Oofunato 2014 )

some small-scale resettlements are infi ll development at an existing settlement.
Those infi ll development type resettlement projects are preferable.
The other issue is the buffer zone. In the Miyagi prefecture, a buffer zone was
also set in the surviving Showa resettlement sites based on tsunami simulation
results. The Ooya community in Miyagi was minimally inundated by the EJED
tsunami at the Showa resettlement site, but housing was not damaged. It is a success
story of resettlement to higher ground. The inundated area was designated as a buf-
fer zone, and the construction of new houses will no longer be permitted. Comparing
to Iwate prefecture, the buffer zone setting in Miyagi is a radical. In Iwate, a buffer
zone is set referring to a land use planning for a recovery project.

1.4 Discussions and Conclusions

The concepts in the EJED recovery plan are not new. Because most are from the
scheme of tsunami recovery in Showa, it is important to learn from the damage due
to the EJED in resettlement sites. One point for a successful recovery is how to
regulate the expansion of residential areas to low lands. As part of the Showa
recovery, the Miyagi prefecture set an ordinance to regulate the construction of
houses in lower lands. Despite this land use regulation, people move back to lower
land near the sea, and suffered tsunami damage again in 2011.