Some of the efforts to return the area to normalcy

There were some interesting things on TV and in the newspapers and magazines that I thought some of you might be interested in.

One of the local universities has developed a new kind of panel for ceilings that is so light weight that, even if it falls on a person, it will not cause injury. It is made from some kind of filament and is projected to be relatively cheap to manufacture. Much of the damage and injuries during earthquakes is caused by ceilings collapsing, air conditioning falling, and the fire extinguishing system breaking, covering everything with water.

In Onagawa, one of the cities hardest hit by the tsunami, a group of local trade people have banded together to start doing business again. They have rented(?) a parking lot on a hillside and have placed a large number of shipping containers in it. The containers have been modified and painted to become stores. They seem to be selling every that is necessary. During the TV news program I saw a meat store, a vegetable store, a flower shop, an electronics store, a couple of restaurants, a bar, and other containers that were not shown in detail. I thought that this was a very good solution to a very important problem.

One big problem that remains, among all the other problems, is what to do about the areas that were ravished by the tsunami. There are three prefectures and many other smaller administrative units involved so the solutions will be a bit different in each locale. However, it appears that the solutions will all be similar, at least to the extent that they will all involve rezoning in ways that will limit the damage by future tsunamis. Most areas are going to require that housing be inland and on raised ground. Also there will be three of four distinct areas with port or ocean-side facilities nearest the ocean, then an industrial area, and finally a shopping zone. In some areas there may be farm land between the port and the industrial area. The areas will be separated by high levees to retard waves. The tops of the levees will carry roads and train lines. This will, of course, cost a huge amount of money and take years to accomplish, but the government seems to be serious about it.

I saw a book the other day. It summarized the damage done during March and April. Unbelievable! According to the book, there were 23,773 people killed or missing plus another 5363 badly injured. 107,748 homes were totally destroyed, 63,083 half destroyed, 298,051 partially destroyed and another 7079 that were flooded. These are the figures for insurance purposes. This is all to say nothing of the nuclear problem, for which it is difficult to get much information, but the local newspaper now has a daily column showing how much radiation is being recorded in cities around the prefecture. In Sendai we have about half of the radiation that is normal in England, so it is not a problem.

Another point from the book is the difference in the number of aftershocks. Previous earthquakes had around 50 aftershocks of magnitude 5 and above during the first 70 days after the main tremor. There was one  quake near Okinawa in 2003 that that broke the pattern had slightly more than 100. However, the March magnitude 9.0 quake had 533. And we are still having them. According to a different source we have had 1437 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 and above.

In spite of this, things are finally beginning to quiet down a bit and on some days there are no quakes at all and on many days there are none that you can feel. Last Friday there was one while I was teaching. I was standing and did not even notice it, but the students who were sitting at computer consoles all felt it and got excited. As proof they pointed out to me that the projector, hanging from the ceiling, was swinging quite a bit. It was not bad so we just commented on it and got back to work. People are getting used to them. A quake that might in the past have elicited screams from some of the students, now hardly creates any stir at all. A quake has to be at least shindo4 to have a reaction more than a slight pause, before a return to work.