March 11th tsunami a record 38.9 meters
A Japanese research team has established that the tsunami of March 11th reached 38.9 meters in one coastal city in Iwate Prefecture. The figure exceeds the record tsunami height in the prefecture from 115 years ago.
A team led by Akio Okayasu of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology conducted the survey on tsunami damage in the Aneyoshi district of Miyako City.
The height was calculated from traces of the tsunami on a hill in the district, over 400 meters away from the coastline.
The tsunami that hit the same prefecture in 1896 recorded a height of 38.2 meters. The new record exceeds the past figure by 70 centimeters.
Professor Okayasu said that even though the 2011 tsunami was bigger than past ones, there was little damage to the houses in the area he researched. He noted this was because residents moved their community to higher ground after learning from past experiences.
Okayasu added he wants people to learn from this area when rebuilding towns damaged by the disaster
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