March 18, Rikuzen-Takata.

According to Hirotaro Iwase, professor of forensic medicine at Japan’s Chiba University, about 90 percent of the people who have died in the town of Rikuzen-Takata (one of the worst hit by the disaster) drowned in the tsunami that followed the earthquake. This is in contrast to the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, in which 80% of the registered deaths were due to collapsed buildings.

The professor said autopsies on 90% of the 126 bodies he examined had bone fractures believed to have occurred after death as a result of impacts equivalent in force to a collision with a motor vehicle traveling at 30-40 kph (19-25 mph).

Around 50 of the 126 bodies were clothed in seven to eight layers of clothing at the time of the disaster and many had backpacks with them containing their hanko personal seals, health insurance cards, photo albums, as well as chocolate and other emergency foods. The professor said this indicates they were prepared to flee the tsunami waves following the earthquake but the water’s force took them by surprise.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but for me, all these details have attached a strong, distinct humanity to the tragedy, one which almost got me teary eyed. Reading this story about a man’s last gift to his wife only made things worse.

yomiuri.co.jp



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  • Jodyrb

    i have a penpal in japan, i have not heard from since the earthquahe/tsunami. is there a list of names or something so that i can see if my friend is alright ?

  • Jodyrb

    i have a penpal in japan, i have not heard from since the earthquahe/tsunami. is there a list of names or something so that i can see if my friend is alright ?

  • http://armannd.com/ Titus-Armand

    What you need is Google’s Japan person finder: http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/