Anxiety runs high across coast after tsunami alert issued

Asahi Shimbun

3 days ago

Tensions ran high among residents and visitors after tsunami warnings were issued along Japan's Pacific coast on July 30 following a powerful earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
At least one related death was reported. At around 10:10 a.m., in Kumano, Mie Prefecture, a 58-year-old woman driving a compact car veered off a national road and dropped approximately 20 meters down a cliff.
The driver suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead.
According to the prefectural police, messages on the woman's mobile phone showed she had been communicating with her family via social media, saying she was 'going to move the car to a higher evacuation point.'
Across the Pacific coast, residents and vacationers enjoying their summer holidays were forced to evacuate or change their plans in the scorching heat, while tourism facilities and businesses scrambled to respond.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2,011,038 people in 19 prefectures had been told to evacuate by local governments as of 5 p.m.
The situation also had a major impact on air, land and sea transportation networks across the regions.
For survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, the warnings brought old fears and anxiety to the surface.
The Yuriage district of Natori in Miyagi Prefecture was also devastated in the 2011 disaster and was rebuilt by elevating the land by three meters.
At around 9:40 a.m., a tsunami advisory was upgraded to a warning, prompting evacuation orders across much of Yuriage.
Before the clock struck 10 a.m., about 30 people had taken shelter on the second floor of the Yuriage Community Center, located roughly one kilometer from the coast. Among them were children on their summer break and factory workers from nearby coastal facilities.
A 79-year-old man joined the evacuees there after fleeing from a nearby single-story reconstruction housing unit. He narrowly escaped the raging tsunami 14 years ago.
'When the emergency siren went off, it brought back memories of that day,' he said. 'I still carry the trauma with me.'
130-CM HIGH WAVES ARRIVE
At around 8:25 a.m., a powerful earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.7 struck near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
The epicenter was approximately 1,500 kilometers northeast of Nemuro, Hokkaido, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The JMA immediately issued tsunami warnings for areas along the Pacific coast from Hokkaido to Wakayama Prefecture. In addition, tsunami advisories were issued for coastal regions along the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Pacific coasts of Shikoku and Kyushu.
In Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, a 130-centimeter-high tsunami was observed at around 2 p.m.
Subsequently, tsunami were reported across wide areas along the Pacific coast of Hokkaido and Honshu.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged people in areas under tsunami warnings to 'evacuate immediately to higher ground or a designated evacuation building or other safe location.'
The prime minister also instructed relevant ministries and agencies to thoroughly implement measures to prevent and promptly assess the extent of damage, and work closely with local governments to prevent injuries.
The area where the earthquake occurred is known for active seismic activity due to subducting tectonic plates, and a magnitude 7.4 earthquake was also recorded there on July 20.
A JMA spokesperson noted at a news conference that 'the epicenter is far from Japan and it is unlikely that this will lead to increased seismic activity here,' but sounded an alarm by saying, 'Tsunami caused by distant earthquakes can last for an extended period, so people should continue evacuating to higher ground.'
AIR, LAND, SEA NETWORKS DISRUPTED
Land and air transportation networks were also affected by the tsunami alerts.
According to the transport ministry, the runway at Sendai Airport was closed at 9:41 a.m., disrupting flight operations.
Japan Airlines reported that two flights—one from Itami and one from Fukuoka—that were scheduled to land in Sendai had to return to their departure points due to the runway closure as of 4 p.m. In addition, 20 flights to and from Sendai were canceled, affecting 1,638 passengers in total.
All Nippon Airways canceled 19 flights in total as of 3 p.m. The airline said it will cancel at least two flights on July 31. The disruption has affected 2,420 passengers in total.
As of 11 a.m., JR Hokkaido had suspended 14 limited express trains and 23 local trains departing from cities such as Kushiro, Obihiro and Hakodate.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, operations on the JR Tokaido Line, Yokosuka Line, Sotobo Line, and others were suspended, and trains already in operation were shifted to elevated stations or other safe locations.
Additionally, multiple rail operators suspended services on lines running along the Pacific coast, from the Kii Peninsula through the Tokai and Tohoku regions, up to Hokkaido.
According to the ministry as of 2 p.m., some sections of the Do-o Expressway in Hokakido were closed to traffic.
Several toll gates on expressways in Miyagi and Mie prefectures were also shut down.
Maritime transportation has been also disrupted due to evacuation orders issued for ports.
According to MOL Sunflower Ltd., there may be delays in the arrival of four ferries operating between Oarai Port in Ibaraki Prefecture and Tomakomai Port in Hokkaido.
Taiheiyo Ferry also announced that ships were temporarily unable to enter the Sendai and Tomakomai ports, and that the departure of a ferry from Sendai bound for Nagoya was expected to be delayed.
NUCLEAR PLANT WORKERS EVACUATED
The affected regions include coastal areas of Tohoku, which suffered catastrophic damage from the 2011 twin disasters.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants in Fukushima Prefecture, said it has ordered all workers at the plants to evacuate, and all personnel reportedly fled to higher ground within the plant premises.
At the No. 1 plant, the discharge of treated water into the ocean—which has been under way since July 14—was manually halted, TEPCO said. The treated water contains tritium, a radioactive substance that cannot be removed by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS).
LESSONS, TRAUMA OF 2011 REMAIN
For many evacuees along the coast of Tohoku, the memories of 2011 are still fresh.
In Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, one of the worst-hit cities in the 2011 disaster, a 38-year-old man was preparing for work near the coast when he heard a siren from the disaster prevention radio.
'This might just be a drill,' he thought initially because he did not feel any tremors.
However, as the emergency siren kept blaring and levees were closed, he realized, 'Uh-oh, this could be serious.'
He fled to higher ground, but continued looking anxiously out at the sea.
'I'm just glad it happened during the daytime,' he said.
In the coastal village of Tanohata in northern Iwate Prefecture, evacuation orders were issued just before 10 a.m. for about 600 residents—roughly one-fifth of the village's population of 2,800.
At a seaside hotel, tsunami alerts rang out from guests' smartphones throughout the building, and some families with children screamed in fear.
The hotel staff called on guests, 'Please get out of here and evacuate to higher ground as soon as possible.'
Roads leading to higher ground were briefly congested with residents' vehicles and construction trucks, as local fire brigade members assisted with evacuation efforts.
At a nearby fishing port, fishermen were seen hauling small boats ashore or sending vessels out to sea to protect them from damage.
'These boats are everything to us—they're our livelihood,' a fisherman said.
A local official said, 'We're in a big trouble. I just hope it doesn't turn into another major disaster like the one (in 2011).'
CHILDREN STRANDED ON ROCKS
At a rocky area near the tip of the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, a large group of children became stranded shortly after 9 a.m.
The group was a youth exploration team from the local town of Rausu, consisting of 36 elementary and junior high school students, accompanied by 29 adult supervisors, including volunteer leaders and a hunter on alert for brown bears.
Children were climbing over difficult rocky terrain toward Cape Shiretoko when they were informed via a mobile phone by a town official that a tsunami might be approaching.
All 65 members of the group remained on the rocks, sheltering at an elevation of more than 20 meters.
BEACH BUSINESS AFFECTED
'The beach is being closed.'
It was the last thing a seaside beach house owner wanted to hear during the peak of the busy summer season. But that was the message a 51-year-old women received from the city government of Sammu, Chiba Prefecture, shortly after 9 a.m.
It was just about opening time and around five customers had already arrived for a barbecue. But she quickly asked them to evacuate and contacted other guests with reservations, telling them, 'Please don't come—watch the news instead.'
About 30 customers were expected that day, but she said, 'People's lives come first.'
Aoshima Beach in Miyazaki, the capital of Miyazaki Prefecture, immediately decided to prohibit swimming after a tsunami advisory was issued.
The beach also shut it down in August last year when the JMA issued for the first time the Nankai Trough Earthquake Extra Information (Megathrust Earthquake Alert).
'The weather had already been unstable,' a beach official said with disappointment. 'If the impact (of the tsunami alert) drags on again and customer traffic declines, it could become a serious problem.'
Added caption:
A car believed to have crashed after falling off a cliff while the driver was evacuating due to a tsunami alert in Kumano, Mie Prefecture, is seen on July 30. (Provided by Nagoya Broadcasting Network)
Tsunami warnings are issued over a broad stretch of Japan's Pacific coastline on July 30 after a big earthquake hit near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The runway at Sendai Airport in Miyagi Prefecture is closed. (Masahiro Hirano)