Mito City Hall at risk of collapse
Mito City Hall in Ibaraki Prefecture was seriously damaged by the March 11 earthquake. Results of a recent earthquake-resistance inspection found that the building could collapse if it is hit by another earthquake with a seismic intensity of 6 or higher.
Should the City decide to repair the building by installing a base-isolation system, the repair costs are estimated to reach 7 billion Yen (91 million USD).Read more
Danchi reconstruction cancelled due to liquefaction
Reconstruction plans for the Sodegaura Danchi public housing project in Chiba's Narashino City have been put on hold as the recent liquefaction in the area caused by the March 11 Tohoku earthquake has deterred potential buyers for apartments in the new project.
The Sodegaura Danchi was built in 1967 and has 250 units. It is built on reclaimed land on Tokyo Bay and is a 45 minute drive from central Tokyo. A 3-bedroom apartment in the complex can be rented for as low as 60,000 Yen/month (780 USD).Read more
Shizuoka Town creates 1000-yr tsunami hazard map
Following the March 11 Tohoku disaster, a coastal town in Shizuoka Prefecture has decided to create a special tsunami hazard map based on a hypothesized once-in-a-thousand-years tsunami.
Yoshida Town is in south-west Shizuoka and faces Suruga Bay. Although it is protected by a 6 meter breakwater, a tsunami of over 8 meters is now thought to be possible. The last major tsunami to hit the town was a 5~6 meter wave caused by the 1854 Ansei Tokai Earthquake.
Under the supervision of an associate professor from the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo, the special map will be based on an earthquake of the same class as the 1498 Meio Nankaido Earthquake which had an estimated magnitude of 8.6 and caused a large tsunami in Suruga Bay and at Kamakura. Using historical records, the estimated height of the tsunami in Yoshida was 8.6 meters.Read more
Damage to Cultural Properties in the Great East Japan Earthquake
The following is a list of Japan's designated cultural properties that suffered damage from the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. In the Tohoku region, a total of 250 cultural properties were damaged, while in the Kanto area, which includes Tokyo, a total of 435 cultural properties suffered damage.
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Sendai's hillside houses still at risk of landslides
The hillside residential areas in Sendai City suffered from serious landslides during the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and a recent survey by Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute has shown that landslides are continuing in these neighborhoods.
While aftershocks and heavy rains were thought to be the main cause, the Institute said that it is unusual for landslides to continue for such a long period of time.Read more
Free farmhouses for evacuees
A new site called "Kominka Net" is providing a listing service for owners of empty Japanese farmhouses (or kominkas) to offer them free of charge as temporary accommodation to evacuees of the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster.Read more