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Pre-tsunami Japan: 2010

Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture

News reports and satellite imagery indicate major damage occurred to the waterfront and township.

Below are listed news reports from Kesennuma, a few days after the earthquake and tsunami. (Note that some of these news items were fresh at the time, and may not reflect the current data and facts.)

• The city of Kesennuma in north-east Honshu, Japan has been burning furiously, with public broadcasters reporting that fires are spreading beyond regional control.
• Kesennuma, located 300 miles north-east of Tokyo in Miyagi prefecture, was near the epicentre of the magnitude [sic] 8.9 earthquake.
• Night-time aerial footage of the city, home to 74,000 people, shows the whole area engulfed in flames after the biggest earthquake in the country's history.
• Witnesses said the fires were sparked after the tsunami knocked over several cars, causing them to leak oil and gas.
• Local news agencies reported that one third of the city has now been completely submerged as fires continue to rage in the rubble and debris.
• Public broadcasters are calling for all residents in the surrounding area to evacuate, saying the flames may be spreading inland.
• Kesennuma is one of dozens of cities and villages along a 2,100km (1,300 mile) stretch of coastline that were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles from the epicentre.

View a larger version. Aerial photo courtesy of Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI).

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