Kumamoto International Archive

Archive of the Kumamoto International Facebook group, 2011–present.

From the Kumamoto International "Whoops" Desk: A concrete two-story shop/house damaged in the quakes was condemned by the city, which contracted with a demolition company who farmed out the work to a subcontractor that got right on it until, halfway through the job, they realized the building they were demolishing was wood, not concrete, so they stopped. Figuring out the correct building was next door, they went ahead and demolished that, but the real estate company (uh-oh) which owns the partially dismantled building is not happy. Negotiations for compensation are underway.
A bit of humor (as long as you're not the ones who screwed up) to lighten a rainy day.
Story and photo at Kumanichi (partially dismantled house left, now demolished concrete house right):
https://this.kiji.is/255528254693475834?c=92619697908483575
誤って隣の建物壊す　地震の公費解体工事　熊本市中央区 - 熊本日日新聞
公費解体の対象物件と取り違えられ、一部解体された空き店舗（左）。本来、解体対象だった店舗兼住宅は解体され、更地となっている＝熊本市中央区　熊本市は５日、熊本地震で被災した建物の公費解体事業で、業者が解体対象を誤り、被災していない別の建物を一...

Due to the deluge of news regarding the, uh, deluge, stories and updates will be collected below in the comments section.

Check
https://crisis.yahoo.co.jp/evacuation/43/
for more information about evacuation notices. You'll need Google's Chrome browser if you want to translate the Japanese into English. -- Kirk

NHK's evening news warned that Kumamoto was likely to get heavy rain in the early hours tomorrow morning. As the situation changes, the following URL may help you get a sense of the level of danger in your area.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/warn/349.html
In regard to calls for evacuations, I doubt that I'll be able to post updates here very frequently. For information about how to learn about evacuation notices on the web please see
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/photos/a.129499733790134.25925.123734781033296/1510930188980408/?type=3&theater
Currently, evacuation is being recommended for parts of Oguni.
-- Kirk

Not Kumamoto but alarmingly close:
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170705/p2g/00m/0dm/070000c
-- Kirk
River flooding reported in Fukuoka as heavy rain hits western Japan - The Mainichi
FUKUOKA (Kyodo) -- Rivers reportedly flooded in a city in Fukuoka Prefecture on Wednesday, the prefectural government said, as torrential rain hit the northern part of the main island of Kyushu in western Japan.

Torrential rain alert issued for Fukuoka after typhoon：The Asahi Shimbun
FUKUOKA--The Meteorological Agency warned of torrential rain in 16 municipalities across Fukuoka Pre

The JMA (Japan Meteorology Agency) has a very useful page for checking on flood danger. As you can see in this video, it has an animation function that can help you get a sense of how the situation is changing. Here's the URL:
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/suigaimesh/flood.html
I was prompted to look at this today because of flood warnings for Fukuoka, to our north. I'll post a bit more about that in a minute. -- Kirk

The village of Nakashima in Yamato-machi straddles the road halfway between the small town of Kosa and the smaller town of Yabe. Mostly agriculture and forest, it once served as a rest stop between the two towns with a few restaurants and stores for those weary of the poor road, but the new road is so smooth that travelers no longer even notice the village, and the shops all closed. 12 years ago, they also lost their elementary school - the few remaining youngsters are now bused to Kosa, and the building was converted to an aged care facility. On the old school grounds, though, remains the symbol and pride of their village, a huge evergreen oak, a sapling gifted from Jingu Shrine in Nara in 1940 - 24 meters tall, 4 meters in girth and covered with moss, under which all community events take place.
It toppled in yesterday's typhoon. Everyone in the village is devastated by this, but hope perseveres. One villager said, "The roots remain firm. We will somehow care for it so that it can recover."
The full story and photo are at Kumanichi: https://this.kiji.is/254948436612269562?c=92619697908483575
- William
地域のシンボル、カシの大木横倒し　山都町 - 熊本日日新聞
台風３号の強風で倒れたとみられるカシの大木＝山都町　山都町北中島の旧中島西部小にあり、住民に親しまれてきたカシの大木が４日、台風３号の強風で根元付近から折れ横倒しになった。地域のシンボルの無残な姿に、住民は「まさか倒れるなんて」と落胆してい...

"Around 68,500 households suffered brief blackouts in Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures in southwestern Japan, while power outages were also reported in Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, the Kyushu Electric Power Co. said."
-- Copied and pasted by Kirk
https://japantoday.com/category/national/update1-typhoon-nanmadol-makes-landfall-in-nagasaki
Typhoon makes landfall in Nagasaki
Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall in Nagasaki Tuesday morning, the weather agency said, bringing heavy rain to Japan's southwestern regions and causing blackouts and traffic disruptions. The season's third typhoon, recording winds of up to 151 kilometers per hour, is expected to continue moving toward…

Click on the article to see two pictures of damage in Kumamoto. -- Kirk
Typhoon hits Nagasaki, torrential rain expected across Japan - The Mainichi
Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall near the city of Nagasaki at around 8 a.m. on July 4, and is expected to bring heavy rain across the country. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has warned of landslides, rising rivers, flooding, as well as tidal waves.

This is my mea culpa. I wrote that I didn't think the winds would be too strong but, well, we all know that wasn't exactly how things played out. It seems to be true that the system wasn't particularly powerful as typhoons go. The RKK evening news report cited two factors for the strength of the winds in Kumamoto City, despite the relative weakness of the system. The first was the angle at which it hit Kumamoto. In the northern hemisphere tropical systems spin counterclockwise. So, if you look at the image, the area south of the eye of the storm was blowing to the east. The second factor was that the storm was moving very quickly to the east, adding to the speed of the easterly winds that were blowing to the south of the storm center. Kumamoto City was just south of the center of the storm so we experienced high winds, as did Amakusa and Aso.
Though it wasn't mentioned in the RKK broadcast, another factor is that, if my understanding is correct, winds coming off of flat seas tend to be stronger than winds that are buffered by mountains and forests. So, it seems that, despite the relative weakness of the system, various factors conspired to maximize the damage caused by this storm in Kumamoto.
Over the years, I've occasionally been accused of being rather alarmist . . . even of "crying wolf" when putting out storm information. This time, I was a bit too sanguine. It really is hard to know just what to expect ahead of time.
Though it sounds like a hackneyed truism, I guess "hope for the best but prepare for the worst" sums up the lesson I've gotten from this storm. :(
-- Kirk

I saw this on NHK's evening news. I'm not sure by it may be a point on the East Bypass. If I'm wrong about the location, please let me know. -- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/04/national/nanmadol-third-typhoon-season-makes-landfall-nagasaki-prefecture/
Nanmadol, third typhoon of season, moves northeast along Japan's Pacific coast | The Japan Times
Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall in Nagasaki Prefecture on Tuesday morning, the Meteorological Agency said, bringing heavy rain to Japan's southwestern regio

It may be an old wives tale (in fact, it reached me via my old wife), but apparently the path of the first typhoon of the season is often followed by subsequent ones. So we have that to look forward to.
I just arrived at Kumadai and was surprised to see that half of an immense Japanese elm (椋木, mukunoki) had split and fallen on three cars parked beneath. Emergency crews are arriving, but the car owners certainly won't be driving home tonight. Hint: Not a good idea to park your car under a large tree during a typhoon, even if the spot is close to your office. Everyone, take care. - William

I just learned that first and second period classes have been cancelled at Kumamoto University and Kumamoto Gakuen University. My employer, Kumamoto Gakuen University, sent us an e-mail that said we would be notified at 10 AM about afternoon classes. -- Kirk

As I wrote a minute ago, the winds are likely to pick up in the coming hours. Flooding and landslides resulting from heavy rain, however, are probably a more significant dangers. Here's an image of a machine translation (Google) of Yahoo's evacuation page for Kumamoto.
https://crisis.yahoo.co.jp/evacuation/43/
The best way I know of to access a machine translation of this Japanese page is to use the translation option on Google's Chrome browser. I probably won't have time to provide continuous updates so if you think you may be in a vulnerable area, please check the page directly. -- Kirk

It's fairly calm now in Kumamoto City but the Tropical Storm Risk website says that we should expect the winds to pick up. The "tropical storm winds" that are predicted are between 63-118 kilometers per hour (39-73 mph). On the website's scale, this is still relatively weak but, of course, strong enough to be taken seriously. -- Kirk

As William has already pointed out, a storm is heading this way. If the storm brings heavy rainfall it may prove to be dangerous but, fortunately, it doesn't look like the winds will be all that strong. -- Kirk
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/tracker/dynamic/main.html

Looks like we'll have a lil' typhoon to help us celebrate American Independence Day. It is rather small (JWTC is calling it a tropical storm), but you might expect a bit of wind and rain from midnight tonight through tomorrow evening. - William
http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/warnings/wp0517.gif

Richard Brezina of Amakusa is currently competing in the Red Bull X-Alps. The "About" page of the competition's official website says it's "the world’s toughest adventure race" and "is returning July 2, 2017 for its eighth edition. Starting in Salzburg, 31 Athletes of 20 nationalities will race a straight-line distance of 1,138km across the Alps to Monaco via 7 turnpoints in 7 different countries, including a turnpoint in Slovenia for the first time in Red Bull X-Alps history. . . It demands not only expert paragliding skills but extreme endurance, as some athletes will hike over 100km a day and gain 1000's of meters in altitude while flying."
http://www.redbullxalps.com/race/about.html
Note that the website allows you to follow Rick's progress live as well as that of all the athletes. He's not in the lead at the moment but with over 1000 kilometers to go, anything can happen. The "About" page also has a very cool video showing what the race involves.
To see a segment on a local TV that shows Rick flying and features an interview with him go to
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1404621022944659
Here's a posting from this page with a link to a Japan Times article about Rick:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1457113077695453
Good luck Rick! (not that I expect you to be looking at Facebook at the moment ;) )
-- Kirk
http://www.redbullxalps.com/athletes/profile/richard-brezina.html
Richard Brezina - Red Bull X-Alps
Richard Brezina from competed in Red Bull X-Alps 2017, hiking and flying across the Alps in the world's toughest adventure race.

Here's more about the latest earthquake:
"Including Sunday’s jolt, the Kumamoto area has experienced 25 quakes registering lower 5 or higher since the deadly April 2016 temblors.
Both Kumamoto and Oita remain seismically active but seem to be quieting down, the agency said, warning that quakes of similar intensity could strike in the future."
-- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/02/national/woman-seriously-injured-quakes-rattle-japan-hokkaido-kyushu/
Woman seriously injured after quakes rattle Japan from Hokkaido to Kyushu | The Japan Times
Two moderately strong earthquakes rattled the opposite ends of Japan overnight, leaving one woman seriously injured, a government agency said Sunday. The q