Home > 2011 Japan Quake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Crisis, Focus on Japan 2011 > Images from Tokyo, Immediately Post-quake

Images from Tokyo, Immediately Post-quake

March 11th, 2011

We’re still getting aftershocks every 5-10 minutes. The last one just hit now, and several are recorded as being as strong as 6 on the Richter scale. Another big one could hit, so we have to be careful. The original quake was brought back up to an 8.8.

The images on television are rather shocking; not the quake, but the tsunamis that are rolling in. Buildings along the coast submerged up to the second floor. Fires in places, including Daiba in Tokyo. Right now the death toll is at 19.

As I mentioned before, we were on the 6th floor of LCJ when it hit, and it progressed in stages. Everyone ducked for cover, getting under desks and in doorways, as papers and books and drinks spilled onto the floor. In the library, the bookshelf braces held, more or less, though books littered the floor. Thankfully, the elevator was open on the 1st floor at the time, so no one at the school was trapped nor had to experience the quake while locked in the car.

People moved out to the street, though not as quickly as they should have, perhaps. After milling around on the street for a while, we all went to the local school grounds, where we could wait for things to settle away from overhanging power lines.

Here are some images from the school; click on each for larger versions. The first is what my office looked like afterwards:

Office01-550

Here are a few images of the library:

Library01-550

Library02-550

On the way to the evacuation area, a local school’s sports field, we could see some structural damage from a building or two:

Streetdamage01-550

But a little farther north, one street was blocked because a retaining wall for earth in a local temple’s graveyard gave way:

Wallbreak01-550

The death toll went up to 20 while I was writing this, but seeing the films of tsunami, I would be amazed if the toll does not go into the hundreds. It’s still just four hours since the quake hit.

  1. Megan Weymouth
    March 12th, 2011 at 01:48 | #1

    Luis: My niece/godchild is there. She’s far from the danger however. I pray for the people of Japan. We’re worried for all of you. Be safe.

  2. Luis
    March 12th, 2011 at 01:50 | #2

    Megan: Thanks. I’m sure she’s safe. A few hundred miles out, it’s scary, but not too dangerous.

  3. Matthew Miller
    March 12th, 2011 at 02:02 | #3

    Prof. Poza: Glad to hear you, your family, and everyone at LCJ are safe!! The place is really a mess though!

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