Tsunami evacuation: Lessons from the Great East Japan earthquake ...

2012
Figure 49 The large open car park roof space above the fish market provided refuge to 1000 people.
This structure is at the harbour front and inundation almost reached roof level. The open
steel structure enabled tsunami flow at the 1 st storey. ..................................................................... 44
Figure 50 The Prefectural Government offices suffered extensive scour and heavy in inundation of 8
m. This building was constructed after 2004 and displays tsunami vertical evacuation
signage at roof level. 200 people survived the tsunami in this building ............................................ 44
Figure 51 The National Government office, where 120 people took refuge from the tsunami. This
building is adjacent to the Prefectural Government offices and was left undamaged when
light steel structures were washed into it. The lower two storeys were inundated. .......................... 44
Figure 52 Kesennuma central community centre, where 450 people took refuge when they evacuated
nearby buildings ............................................................................................................................... 45
Figure 53 The Kahoku Newspaper offices were inundated to at least the ceiling of the 1 st storey. 71
people took refuge here. .................................................................................................................. 45
Figure 54 Locations of designated tsunami evacuation buildings in Minami-Sanriku Town: (A)
Matsubara apartments; (B) Takano Kaikan building; (C) Shizugawa Hospital; (D) Fisheries
Co-operative. Significant scour can be seen where seawater is encroaching around building
(A) and to the east of building (D). ................................................................................................... 46
Figure 55 Matsubara apartment block viewed from the seaward side with waterborne debris to the 4 th
storey. The low seawall has been destroyed in the tsunami return flow and was sheltered in
part by the apartment building. The foundations of this building are exposed above the water
level due to extensive scour. ............................................................................................................ 46
Figure 56 The Takano Kaikan building 160 m inland of the Matsubara apartment block. Little damage
aside from glazing was observed here, despite heavy damage and collapse of RC buildings
immediately seaward. ...................................................................................................................... 47
Figure 57 Shizugawa Hospital (west building) – the taller of the 2 hospital buildings at 5-storeys, this
section suffered less debris damage than the east building. ............................................................ 47
Figure 58 Shizugawa Hospital (east building) viewed from the seaward side which suffered debris
damage at the 1 st and 2 nd storeys. ................................................................................................... 47
Figure 59 Minami-Sanriku fisheries co-operative building which was overtopped on March 11 th . Image
credit: Google Streetview, August 2011. .......................................................................................... 47
Figure 60 York Benimaru shopping centre, Minato-machi, Ishinomaki City. The rooftop car parking
area is accessible by vehicle ramp and was successfully used for vertical evacuation on
March 11 th . ....................................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 61 The Homac hardware store is a single storey building with car parking on the roof, which is
accessible by vehicle ramp. Image credit: Google Streetview, August 2011 ................................... 48
Figure 62 The Hotaru funeral facility. This is an unlikely vertical evacuation facility given the lack of
obvious roof space or external access, but successfully provided refuge on March 11 th . ................ 49
Figure 63 Kadonowaki Elementary School was damaged by fire while inundated during the tsunami.
People who had sought refuge hear were able to leave the building and evacuate further
uphill at the rear of the school. This building is a typical school structure in Japan; these
buildings are commonly used as evacuation or emergency welfare centres. ................................... 49
Figure 64 Locations of designated evacuation buildings in Yuriage, Natori City: (A) Yuriage Junior High
School; (B) Yuriage Elementary School; (C) Yuriage Community Centre. Sendai
International airport is to the south of the area shown here. ............................................................ 50
Figure 65 The Yuriage Community Centre was inundated to the 2 nd storey but 43 people survived in
the building. ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Figure 66 Yuriage Elementary School. 870 people took refuge here, where the large roof area and 3 rd
storey were above inundation. Direct external access to the 3 rd storey is available from the
stairs shown here. ............................................................................................................................ 50
Figure 67 Yuriage Junior High School is constructed on ground which is raised 1.8 m above the
surrounding fields. This helped to mitigate damage from the tsunami flow and only contents
damage was observed (EEFIT, 2011). 823 people took refuge here. .............................................. 51
Figure 68 Official vertical evacuation signage, as photographed on the apartment block in Kamaishi. ........... 52
Figure 69 Sign indicating the entrance to external stairways at the apartment block in Kamaishi
(Translation: “Evacuation building entrance (stairways)”.................................................................. 52
GNS Science Report 2012/17
v