on march 11, 2011, at 2:46 pm local time, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake (7 shindo on the japanese scale) occurred off the coast of miyagi prefecture in japan. it was followed by a huge tsunami. this earthquake is the strongest ever recorded in japan, and the 4th largest recorded in history. one month after this disaster, there are 13,116 confirmed dead, 14,377 more people who are missing, and 147,536 displaced people living in evacuation centers.
after the tohoku kanto great earthquake, i started this site to keep track of news and other information related to the response and recovery from this disaster, especially housing, temporary housing, livelihood recovery, recovery policy, and as much as possible information on the ground.
i’m a phd student of architecture at kobe university, from the u.s.a., most recently seattle, where i did my masters. i’m also a part time researcher in an organization for disaster recovery knowledge management in kobe.
i am researching disaster recovery, community-based recovery and housing recovery post-disaster. before the march 11 earthquake and tsunami in japan, my research focused on partnerships between universities and communities during the recovery and rebuilding phases, in several countries.
as the devastated area moves toward reconstruction and recovery, i want to support recovery efforts however i can. and keeping track of information using this site is a small beginning. i hope it’s useful to someone, but it’s first and foremost a place for me to organize information, so it will be a mix of news, resources, and my own experiences and thoughts. all opinions are my own, and don’t represent any organization or institution. if you have suggestions or comments, i’d love to hear them.
why you keep hidden this blog to us so long XDDDD
It’s super interesting!!
I am really interesting in the evacuated people -IDPs?- and the community reconstruction. I hope we can chat soon!
best wishes
Nico
Posted by nicointokio (@nicointokio) | August 18, 2011, 4:49 pmthanks nico! it took me a while to feel like it was updated:-)
i’m really interested in community recovery too, definitely we should talk.
Posted by liz | August 18, 2011, 7:14 pmThis is an awesome collection. Thank you!
Posted by moz | January 24, 2012, 6:05 pmThanks for your effort collecting and posting information about the event, I have found the blog very useful.
I am writing a text about housing and community that refers to the housing issues that the Tohoku area has at the moment. Would it be possible to ask you some questions regarding the topic of housing & community reconstruction?
Regards
Juan
Posted by Juan Ordonez | February 1, 2012, 11:42 amHi LiZ,
I just found your blog about tohoku, I am intrested in the contruction process, Is there dedicated groups to help with houseing, How does someone go about leaving the United States for a season and help out over there with building?
Posted by Eric patton | February 2, 2012, 4:05 amhi eric,
i recommend you check out ‘it’s not just mud’ http://itsnotjustmud.com/, who are involved in longer term recovery projects, including some building. also the group ‘foreign volunteers japan’ on facebook or online is an excellent recourse for volunteering and other information in english.
Posted by liz | February 4, 2012, 11:16 pmGreat blog…please check out my ‘Sendai Earthquake Friends & Family Link’ group page on Facebook so we can exchange updated information.
Posted by chris doran | March 17, 2012, 6:54 amwe will make a summer school “Sanriku Fukkou” for German and Japanese students in Miyako (Taro) during September 2012: http://www.sanrikufukkou.com – we want to help making plans for the rebuilding of the area with scientists working in Tsunamiscience, landscapeplanning, using renewable energy and making plans how to start normal life – so, thank you very much for your efforts
Posted by Gesa Neuert | March 27, 2012, 2:22 amHi,
we posted a link from our website to yours, which we think is great. Is this ok? If you don’t like this, we will delete it and if you would like to change the text, we will of course post it. Thanks for your great work, Agim
Posted by Agim | April 2, 2012, 7:25 pmabsolutely! thanks.
Posted by liz | April 4, 2012, 9:37 am