Three years on - Great Tohoku Earthquake

It's now been three years since that fateful day in 2011 when the Great Tohoku Earthquake struck. I remember the day well. I was in Vietnam, in a town called Dalat. I had just arrived, and went out for dinner with a nice chap I met at my guesthouse. We were talking through dinner and I mentioned that my next destination was Japan. Well, after a couple of weeks in Laos. My new found friend looked at me in shock and said he didn't think I'd be going there after what had happened today. What had happened? Massive earthquake and tsunami! Oh...


I spent the evening and wee hours of the next morning watching TV sucking in what was going on in Japan. The footage of the waves hitting parts of Sendai and picking everything up in their paths. I was strongly urged by most travellers I met in the next three weeks in South East Asia not to go to Japan. I was told I was mad - who knew how dangerous the Fukushima situation was?

But in the end I did go. And if I hadn't well, I wouldn't have returned and spent two years here teaching English. AND I wouldn't have met my wife. So it's funny the way things turn out. But I can never EVER fully understand what it was like to be here on that day, to live through the following weeks and months after the impact of the earthquake and tsunami. All my students though went through that. I often wondered how they were affected. My main school is 25 kilometres from Kesenumma, on the coast. It was devastated by the tsunami. My school took some students, I am sure, who lost their school because of it.

And things are not all tickety-boo three years later. There are still people living in temporary housing, clean up efforts continue and we really do not know the extent of the dangers posed by Fukushima, about half-way between here and Tokyo. In fact, the government in December enacted a law basically preventing people from reporting on Fukushima, and before that the people of Japan received precious little information about it.

I have been on Facebook today and I had planned to blog about places in Tohoku encouraging people to visit. I will save that for later in the week though, the mood on facebook from others in the region seems to be one of sombre reflection and a little anger that still not enough has been done. This link to photos of the devastation was shared on Facebook, I'm sharing it with you. Take care.

Tohoku three years after the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami

Two years ago....

Hello folks,
as many may be aware, yesterday marked the 2 year anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake, the tsunami that followed and then the Fukushima Nuclear Plant Crisis.

Here is a little information via BBC, because I was not here when it happened.

BBC - Japan Marks Quake and Tsunami Anniversary

BUT I am here now, in a region devastated March 11th, 2011. I read a friends recollections/diary yesterday and I wondered how I would have coped if I had been here that day. The only conclusion I could reach was that I would be a gibbering mess.
In December last year there was a pretty decent quake, 7.3. I turned off the iron, the gas stove and ran to the bathroom. A few things fell to the ground. We have a shake now and then, in the last month it's been rather quiet - which make me rather nervous. Last year for the most part we have a tremour every one to two days. In some way that was reassuring because it felt like the Earth was letting out its anger little by little. If it holds it inside for longer though...

Here in Ichinoseki, away from the coast, the damage was done by the quake. There was no power for two weeks, and I am told manhole covers popped out of the ground, the building opposite my apartment block was severely damaged, and still stands unoccupied today as a reminded. A marriage hall in town was also severely damaged and is no longer in use.

Water was a huge issue after March 11th 2011. People couldn't flush their toilets. Many stuck it out in shelters. I know someone who lost their home and didn't know for a while if their family was alive. Everyone here who survived had a similar worry over friends or loved ones. And here I sit, I came over to live here just under a year ago. For me, it's hard and terrifying to imagine.
Those who survived went through so much, and rebuilding their lives must at times be very difficult, and very brave indeed.

Then we have the Fukushima situation, still a situation today. I hear varying reports about the dangers. Last year one of my schools had a think layer of top soil removed because of radiation. And Ichinoseki is a fair way from Fukushima. From near as I can understand, there is a lot of danger still at the plant, and another massive earthquake could have dire consequences. Few people realise, it seems, that there was a full-on nuclear meltdown there.
A couple of articles:

Ravages of Fukshima Nuclear Disaster will never end (The Age)

Pictures from the affected area (from The Guardian)

But still life goes on. People rebuild buildings and lives with incredible courage and determination. That's the human race for you.