Pre-tsunami Japan: 2010

Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture

Kamaishi City is located at the head of an irregular-shaped, roughly east-west trending bay that is another good natural harbor and an important iron and fish port facility. Post-tsunami satellite imagery shows extensive damage to port facilities. The 1896 Meiji Sanriku tsunami devastated Kamaishi where nearly 5,000 people perished out of a population of about 6,500. A tsunami seawall was constructed at the entrance to Kamaishi Bay in water depths up to 63 m and took 20 years to complete (1978-2008). Post satellite imagery shows damage to the seawall.

Close-up of one side of seawall at the entrance to Kamaishi Bay.	Close-up of the other side of seawall.
The Kamaishi Daikannon ("big Kannon statue") is 48.5 meter high and is located on the tip of the Kamazaki Peninsula, overlooking the entrance to Kamaishi Bay.	Photo of the Daikannon taken in 2004 by "hirame", from Panoramio and Google Earth. Seawall can be seen in the distance.

For comparison, pre-March 11, 2011 tsunami images are shown with post-tsunami images.

Photo taken in April 2010.	The same blue building has been damaged. Photo by "nakatani" from Panoramio and Google Earth, taken April 24, 2011.
Aerial imagery from April 26, 2005.	Aerial imagery from March 23, 2011.

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