Disaster Frozen in Time: Ruins of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Kisnuma City Memorial Museum

A museum in Kisinuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, commemorates the terror of 3.11 and shows visitors how to respond during disasters.

A journey through disaster prevention

Broken desks and chairs, a wrinkled car with its wheels in the air, curved concrete beams. This is a scene in a classroom on the third floor of Kesennuma Kōyō High School.

The old school buildings have been perfectly preserved as left by the tsunami that devastated the surrounding community in March 2011. These facilities, along with the newly built exhibition facilities, form the ruins of the Kisnuma City Museum of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which opened to the public on March 10, 2019.

Museum director Sato Katsumi explains that the facility is for people to see the damage caused by the disaster. “We want visitors to learn by seeing exactly what happened on 11 March 2011 for themselves, and by understanding the importance of disaster preparedness.”

There are no museum staff within the vicinity of the rubble, and nothing has been touched. Since a lot of glass has been shattered in the classrooms and hallways, there is nothing to protect the interior from the elements. Raindrops soak the rubble, snow piles inside, strong winds make things move, weeds grow inside the gym as the roof swept away. It was a clear day during our visit and dust blew in the sea breeze. Thinking of the remnants gradually fading away, Sato hopes not to let the memory of the disaster and its lessons fade into our hearts.

The newly built Memorial Museum connects it with the ruins of Kesennuma Kōy High School.

Museum director Sato Katsumi was a municipal employee at the time of the disaster and was involved in clearing the wreckage.

A 12-meter water wall

The Great East Japan Earthquake and its aftermath claimed the lives of 1,152 Kisnuma residents, with the exception of 214 people still missing. The tsunami swept away nearly all buildings in Hajikami, which is where the high school is located. The old school buildings are still standing, but destroyed and littered with debris, they testify to the horror of the tidal wave. Miraculously, all the students at the school, about 170, managed to escape to safety, and even the teachers and contractors who remained at the school were safe.

After seeing films and photos of the disaster memorials at the newly built Memorial Museum, visitors can wander through the skeletal remains of the disaster. The path begins with the south building facing the sea, which is the most affected side of the wave, and takes visitors down the walkways without glass in the windows, allowing them to look out over the destroyed classrooms. Upon seeing the destruction up close, it is difficult to imagine the pupils having studied there in the past.

Corridor of Kesennuma Kōy High School. As part of the COVID-19 measures, poles have been placed in the driveway so that visitors can respect distances.

The remains of the school’s computer-aided design lab for mechanical engineering studies.

The third floor is eight meters above the ground, and the sight of the overturned car tells its own tale of the terrible power of the tsunami. Rust on the underside of the metal boxes left on the fourth floor shows that the tsunami floods reached a height of 12 meters.

A car washed away by the tsunami has settled on the third floor of the school. Information throughout the museum is available in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean and Indonesian.

The message cases on the fourth floor were from rust up to 25 cm high from the tsunami.

Destruction at every turn

From the school rooftop, the topless gym is easy to see at school. Nearby is a hodgepodge of offices. When the tsunami struck, those seeking to escape stacked them on top of each other to ascend to the highest part of the building. The scene is also reproduced, and it is believed that the reason the tsunami did not reach the surface is that it was weaker due to the two large cooling stations on the sea side of the school.

“The tsunami carried away the refrigeration plant buildings and someone hit the fourth floor of the school,” Sato says. “It is weird to talk about cooling plants colliding on the fourth floor of the school, but such unimaginable things happened in the disaster.”

Upon exiting the first floor, visitors can see for themselves the sign that I made when I hit the corner of the fourth floor. The information panel explains that in a twist of fate, it protected the school building from the brunt of the tsunami, leaving the building severely damaged, but intact.

Weeds thrives on a rooftop gym floor.

Five offices scattered across the roof tower tell of the survivors’ despair.

A broken portion of the wall indicates where the refrigeration unit has been affected.

A walk through the school buildings reveals a car piled on top of the wreckage. Apparently, two people were also washed in this place, with the roof they were on, and were rescued unharmed. The building’s north aisle is decorated with pictures of school activities before the earthquake. The contrast between carefree, smiling faces, organized classrooms, and a building destroyed by a tsunami is stark and tragic.

The way back from the ruins of the disaster to the Memorial Museum with exhibits on rescue activities and the lives of evacuees. There are also videos featuring insights from those who fully lived them as well as shows that emphasize the importance of life.

Cars and debris piled up in the driveway between the school buildings.

The North School building is decorated with pictures showing different aspects of school life.

You go higher! Go further!

Taking a closer look at the horrors of the tsunami, the fact that all students from high school escaped is nothing short of a miracle. Sato says there has always been a high level of disaster awareness in the school, and evacuation training has been well trained.

Immediately after the earthquake, students gathered in the school yard, one meter above sea level. The 27 personnel who were appointed as guides for the evacuation initially targeted Gifukuji, a nearby Buddhist temple eight meters above sea level. However, after deciding it was too dangerous even there, they took everyone to the Rikuzen Hachikami Station, which is located 12 meters above sea level. From there, they moved to a higher level, to Hashikami Junior High School, which is 32 meters above sea level, and arrived there, about two kilometers, about 45 minutes after the earthquake.

The grounds of the former school have been converted into a golf course and park. There are almost no buildings even along the seawall along the coast.

Incredibly, no photos or videos of eviction. Desperate to evacuate, Sato insists the students and teachers never crossed their minds to take a picture or shoot a video on their phones. “The only thing that was important was to go as high and farther as possible.”

Since opening in 2019, the museum has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors, which is an impressive number amid a pandemic. The museum is also out of the way, standing a 20-minute walk from the Rikuzen Hashikami Station of the JR Kesennuma Bus Rapid Transit Line. Despite the distance, quite a few people take the BRT bus instead of arriving by car. Sato recommends that the visitor go the evacuation path the students took, which he says provides a better idea of ​​their ordeal and the importance of the evacuation.

View of the ruins of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Kisnuma City Memorial Museum (center) from Iwasaki Scenic Spot. A continuous breakwater is being constructed along the coast.

The ninth Yokozuna statue Hidinoyama Raiguro and the Dragon Pine Tree that survived the tsunami in Iwasaki, which stand as symbols of the revival of the Hashikami District.

Great East Japan Earthquake Ruins Kisnuma City Memorial Museum Address: 9-1 Hajikami Simokai, Kisinuma, Miyagi Prefecture Opening hours: April to September 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry at 4:00 p.m.), October to March 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (last entry at 3:00 p.m.) closed Mondays (unless it’s a public holiday), the day following public holidays, December 29 to January 4. Admission: 600 yen for adults, 400 yen for high school students, 300 yen for elementary and middle school students. Getting there: 20 minutes on foot from JR Kesennuma Bus Rapid Rikuzen Hashikami Station

(Originally published in Japanese. Reporting, texts and photos by Nippon.com.)

.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos