Walking west along a main road, I found a streetlight that had been knocked down by one of the quakes. Actually much of the damage was caused by a combination of the main tremor and the aftershocks. One of the students in my art class told me that the main quake had caused no visible damage to her home, but that the aftershocks had caused numerous cracks to appear in the interior walls.
This is what now remains of the base of the streetlight. Obviously a work crew has been here and cleaned up enough so that it is unlikely that pedestrians will get hurt.
This is a little local Shinto shrine. I did not see a sign so I do not know the name, but because of the quake, this shrine's torii is now on the street.
I thought this was a bit amusing in a weird sort of way. The sign is advertizing for tenants for the commercial space behind it. However, the doors are broken and there is quake damage inside.
There is special trash collection for things that were destroyed in the quakes and tsunami. Normally things like electronic equipment or large furniture has to be collected separately after an extra fee has been paid. All over the city there are designated spots where any and all trash is being collected for free for a specified period. This household shrine had no physical damage but it may have been discarded because of damage to the house. In other words it did not do its job. Of course, there is likely a more everyday explanation.
The news today said that, in the three prefecture area effected by the disaster, there were 70,000 jobs lost, mostly at small firms where the owner perished as the firm's physical structure was destroyed. Most companies are trying very hard to remain in operation and to continue paying their employees. Larger, national and international firms are finding this easier because they have the financial capacity but smaller firms are struggling.
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