On the first day of the field trip to the Tohoku Area, where the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) struck, we visited the Sendai MLIT office and saw the tsunami hit areas south of Sendai, including the airport. It is now 2 years and 3 months since the disaster, and many recovery projects have started. The MLIT office is earthquake resistant and has water, food and fuel to run the facility for 3 days.
After the lecture we traveled through the disaster hit area. The landscape was littered with housing foundations and newly constructed incinerating plants which managed all the debris. We visited the new sea levee being constructed, partly out of debris. The debris used consists of soil and crushed concrete rubble from collapsed buildings.
The coastal area also consisted of agricultural fields (mainly rice), which had to be desalinized after all the sea water covered the land. To recover, first the rubble was removed. Then the surface soil was removed and replaced with fresh soil. The ground water was stored and drained several times and now agriculture has returned to the places most uphill. The process is still being performed more downhill, in accordance with the ground water flow.
While it was disheartening to walk across the barren landscape, there were also some people enjoying themselves on the coast, by fishing and surfing.
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