Survival of Shrines from the 2011 Great Tsunami

Takaaki Uda; Kazuya Sakai

doi:10.20965/jdr.2013.p0826

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JDR Vol.8 No.sp pp. 826-834

(2013)

doi: 10.20965/jdr.2013.p0826

Paper:

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Survival of Shrines from the 2011 Great Tsunami

Takaaki Uda and Kazuya Sakai

Public Works Research Center, 1-6-4 Taito, Taito, Tokyo 110-0016, Japan

Received:

May 1, 2013

Accepted:

July 2, 2013

Published:

September 1, 2013

Keywords:

2011 Great Tsunami, tsunami damage, shrines

Abstract

A massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurring on March 11, 2011, triggered a powerful tsunami that devastated large areas along Japan’s eastern Pacific coast. We investigated tsunami damage using satellite images and aerial photographs, and visited devastated sites, including 27 Shinto shrines, near the coast in 2011 and 2012. We found that all but two of these shrines survived the tsunami, even though tsunami height differed from place to place. As a memorial to those who lost their lives in previous tsunamis, shrines were built in places to which residents could safely evacuate. Many of these shrines were undamaged because their elevation was higher than the tsunami height, and the lives of those who evacuated to them were saved.

Cite this article as:

T. Uda and K. Sakai, “Survival of Shrines from the 2011 Great Tsunami,” J. Disaster Res., Vol.8 No.sp, pp. 826-834, 2013.

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References

[1] Joint Research Group of 2011 Great Tsunami,
http://www.coastal.jp/ttjt/ [accessed August 20, 2011]
[2] T. Shibayama, “Field survey of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami disaster and future tsunami protection,” Proc. 6th Inter. Conf. on Asian and Pacific Coasts, pp. 79-82, 2011.
[3] T. Uda, K. Sakai, T. San-nami, and T. Shimizu, “Two distinguished effects of the 2011 Great Tsunami to the coasts along Sendai Bay – Damage to Arahama and trench formation behind the dike on Yamamoto coast,” Trans. Japan. Geomorphological Union, Vol.33, No.4, pp. 365-384, 2012.
[4] K. Sakai, T. Uda, and T. San-nami, “Survival of shrines from the 2011 Great Tsunami, “ Proc. 7th Conf. on Asian and Pacific Coasts, 2013 (in press).
[5] S. Konno, “Kesen in the feudal age shown in old map,” Kumagaya Shuppan, p. 97. 1981 (in Japanese).
[6] H. Liu, T. Shimozono, T. Takagawa, A. Okayasu, H. M. Fritz, S. Sato, and Y. Tajima, “The 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami survey in Rikuzentakata and comparison with historical events,” Pure and Applied Geophysics, Springer, online first, 2012.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.

[1] [1] Joint Research Group of 2011 Great Tsunami,
http://www.coastal.jp/ttjt/ [accessed August 20, 2011]

[2] [2] T. Shibayama, “Field survey of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami disaster and future tsunami protection,” Proc. 6th Inter. Conf. on Asian and Pacific Coasts, pp. 79-82, 2011.

[3] [3] T. Uda, K. Sakai, T. San-nami, and T. Shimizu, “Two distinguished effects of the 2011 Great Tsunami to the coasts along Sendai Bay – Damage to Arahama and trench formation behind the dike on Yamamoto coast,” Trans. Japan. Geomorphological Union, Vol.33, No.4, pp. 365-384, 2012.

[4] [4] K. Sakai, T. Uda, and T. San-nami, “Survival of shrines from the 2011 Great Tsunami, “ Proc. 7th Conf. on Asian and Pacific Coasts, 2013 (in press).

[5] [5] S. Konno, “Kesen in the feudal age shown in old map,” Kumagaya Shuppan, p. 97. 1981 (in Japanese).

[6] [6] H. Liu, T. Shimozono, T. Takagawa, A. Okayasu, H. M. Fritz, S. Sato, and Y. Tajima, “The 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami survey in Rikuzentakata and comparison with historical events,” Pure and Applied Geophysics, Springer, online first, 2012.