The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami was a shocking travesty at 14:46 JST (05:46 GMT) that took place on the 11th March 2011. There was originally an earthquake(9.0 magnitude) that lasted six minutes and that soon led up to a tsunami.
The first signs of this tragic event began 8 miles off shore. The 18 foot sea barrier couldn’t stop the tsunami. The sea barrier was one of the deepest and largest sea wall in the world. The tsunami was caused when an underwater earthquake shook the waves and the water rose up to the shore. According to National Geographic, approximately 28,000 were dead or missing. Recorded 6th March 2018 – 13,386 people still had aftershock.
The energy created form the underwater earthquake was what caused the waves to rise with a magnitude of 9.0-9.1
An interview of a survivor from https://www.preventionweb.net/news/even-darkest-night-ends-interview-akihiro-nikaido-postmaster-ishinomaki-post-office-about
Question 1: You were the Postmaster at the Ishinomaki Post Office at the time of the 2011 earthquake and its tsunami. Please tell me about your experience.
The March 11, 2011 earthquake, and the subsequent tsunami, brought enormous damage to Ishinomaki. I saw a boat, swept up by the tsunami that settled on top of a building. It was a sight I never would have thought possible.
In the Tohoku region, March is still very cold. After the earthquake, it snowed in Ishinomaki. With repeated aftershocks, and the town wrecked by the earthquake and tsunami, the residents were in a state of confusion, while trying to find refuge and dealing with the winter cold.
At that time, I was working at the Ishinomaki Post Office. Together with other employees, I was serving customers at the financial services counter.
The earthquake struck at 14:46 (Japanese Standard Time), shaking the building with tremendous force. I had never experienced such a furious tremor. My colleagues were thrown from one end of the room to the other. That is no exaggeration. The violence of the earthquake literally sent us flying.
Firmly fixed lockers fell over, and small fires broke out, although fortunately they were extinguished right away.
Part of the building’s ceiling collapsed so I had the employees take refuge in the inner courtyard. I also directed those sales reps outside to return to the post office.
At around 15:30, since there was really no point in working and the staff was worried about their families and homes, I decided to let them leave early. It was when I stepped out of the post office that I saw the inky-looking tsunami surging in. It was 15:26 when the tsunami arrived in Ishinomaki.
I ran for my life, taking refuge in the nearby Nakasato Elementary School. A 1.5-meter tsunami had deluged the post office area, and with the flooding, we could no longer approach the post office.
Question 2: Ishinomaki City lost close to 4,000 people. In addition, according to the report from Ishinomaki City, the tsunami caused a flood of about one meter in the area around the post office. Many employees and customers suffered injury, and we can presume that the post office building and vehicles were also hit. Given all that, I think that restoring services must have been an incredibly difficult job. As postmaster, what kind of challenges did you face?
It was on the sixth day following the earthquake that the water around the post office receded. We had to wait for the water to be drained by a drainage pump vehicle.
The first floor of the post office was flooded, and the vehicles parked there were totally ruined.
I was also unable to approach to the post office, and for some time took shelter in the elementary school. Then, on March 17, I was finally able to go to the Tohoku regional office in Sendai. I borrowed a car from the regional office, and returned to Ishinomaki.
After returning to Ishinomaki, the regional office supported our efforts to resume services.
From March 19th we were able to partially begin deliveries using bicycles and motorbikes that had not been damaged in the tsunami. On the 22nd, 12 days after the earthquake, we were able to begin special handling and emergency payments at the Ishinomaki Post Office counters, for which we had numerous requests from customers.
In restoring services, we were able to receive the assistance of the Japan Post Group, which pulled together as a team. Also, by taking advantage of the logistical strength of Japan Post, we were able to install a portable power generator since electricity was not yet back online.
Toilets were another big problem. I think it was a major inconvenience placed on employees in a situation where there was neither electricity nor water. Everyone was grateful when we installed portable toilets.
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