137
coastal area of Tohoku (the northern region of Japan that encompasses the Sanriku
coastline and the Sendai plains, amongst other areas), killing some 1000 people
(though population density at the time was significantly lower than at present).
There are no records concerning the Jogan Tsunami, though some tsunami deposits
found in sediment layers in the Sendai Plain, as well as along the Sanriku Coast,
have allowed researchers to identify the area which was likely to have been inundated by this event (Minoura et al. 2001).
Since the Edo Era (1603~1867), the number of written records increased substantially, and thus tsunamis have been better documented. The Keicho Tsunami (1611),
which attacked a wide coastal area from Hokkaido to Sanriku, was one of the most
destructive tsunamis in this period, and in the Tohoku regions waves travelled up to
4 km inland (Sawai et al. 2006). Since the beginning of industrialization during the
Meiji Era (1868–1912), the Sanriku coast has experienced three major tsunamis.
The first of these three tsunamis is known as the Meiji-Sanriku Tsunami, which
caused some 22,000 casualties. Although the magnitude of the generating earthquake was comparatively modest, the maximum tsunami height reached as high as
20 m. The second tsunami is referred to as the Showa-Sanriku Tsunami, which
caused around 3000 casualties along the Sanriku coastline. Finally, the 1960 Chile
Tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake of magnitude 9.5 on the Richter
scale in Chile, reached the Sanriku coastline and caused over 100 casualties.
Fig. 7.1 Coastal settlement of Arahama, formerly located in the vicinity of Sendai City, Japan. All
residential buildings in the town were destroyed by the power of the tsunami
7 Time-Scale in Framing Disaster Risk Reduction in Sustainability
coastal area of Tohoku (the northern region of Japan that encompasses the Sanriku
coastline and the Sendai plains, amongst other areas), killing some 1000 people
(though population density at the time was significantly lower than at present).
There are no records concerning the Jogan Tsunami, though some tsunami deposits
found in sediment layers in the Sendai Plain, as well as along the Sanriku Coast,
have allowed researchers to identify the area which was likely to have been inundated by this event (Minoura et al. 2001).
Since the Edo Era (1603~1867), the number of written records increased substantially, and thus tsunamis have been better documented. The Keicho Tsunami (1611),
which attacked a wide coastal area from Hokkaido to Sanriku, was one of the most
destructive tsunamis in this period, and in the Tohoku regions waves travelled up to
4 km inland (Sawai et al. 2006). Since the beginning of industrialization during the
Meiji Era (1868–1912), the Sanriku coast has experienced three major tsunamis.
The first of these three tsunamis is known as the Meiji-Sanriku Tsunami, which
caused some 22,000 casualties. Although the magnitude of the generating earthquake was comparatively modest, the maximum tsunami height reached as high as
20 m. The second tsunami is referred to as the Showa-Sanriku Tsunami, which
caused around 3000 casualties along the Sanriku coastline. Finally, the 1960 Chile
Tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake of magnitude 9.5 on the Richter
scale in Chile, reached the Sanriku coastline and caused over 100 casualties.
Fig. 7.1 Coastal settlement of Arahama, formerly located in the vicinity of Sendai City, Japan. All
residential buildings in the town were destroyed by the power of the tsunami
7 Time-Scale in Framing Disaster Risk Reduction in Sustainability