Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
20.1
Purpose
A massive earthquake occurred offshore of the East Japan Pacifi c Coast on 11
March 2011. It caused a tsunami that in turn infl icted damage on East Japan and the
surrounding area. This natural hazard is referred to as the Great East Japan Disaster.
The areas affected were struck by at least one of three phenomena, earthquake, tsu-
nami and/or nuclear power plant accident. Current restoration efforts to rebuild
infrastructure and to create a new society are pressing challenges in Japan, one to
which geography education can contribute.
This chapter addresses the impacts of the Great East Japan Disaster, addressing
severely damaged schools in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. This is followed by an
examination of emergency support to the damaged schools by academic geography
associations and related organizations. Finally, current and post-disaster Japanese
education policy and research trends in geography education are reported.
20.2
Characteristics of the Great East Japan Disaster
20.2.1
Overview of the Disaster
On 11 March 2011 at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC), the plate boundary fault along the
Japan Trench slipped over a length of approximately 500 km off the coast of Miyako
City, Iwate Prefecture, extending to Chousi City, Chiba Prefecture. This generated
a 9.0 magnitude (MW) earthquake, which was the most powerful known earthquake
ever to have struck Japan. The number of deaths is estimated at 15,879, with a further
2,700 people still missing (National Police Agency Publicity 2013). The cost from
direct damage was estimated to be 17 trillion JPY, which is approximately 20 % of
the national budget of Japan (Tanaka 2012 ).
The disaster was characterized by a large-scale earthquake, which generated a
large tsunami that brought about the majority of the damage. The distribution of
dead and missing people was concentrated along coastal municipalities, suggesting
that most of the damage was due to the tsunami (Fig. 20.1 ). The earthquake impacted
a wide area including Tohoku and Kanto regions and its dangerous impact multi-
plied when the earthquake and tsunami caused the nuclear power plant disaster.
In response to the earthquake disaster, the word “unexpected” is often used. For
example, Taro district in Miyako City, Iwate, was known for its most advanced
structural countermeasures against tsunami. Double 10 m high tsunami seawalls
extending over 2.4 km length were laid out throughout the district. Despite the
structural protection, the tsunami fl owed over the double levees and devastated Taro
district. The seawall was constructed to protect against tsunamis of this exact size
that struck this area during the Meiji and Showa eras. However, the seawall did not
stand in the face of this “unexpected” tsunami, which was larger than those historically
experienced in the area.
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