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Kirk here. A little after 1 AM last night the big one hit. On TV now they are saying that 9 PM earthquake of April 14th was a preview of what was to come. The shaking in our home in Obiyama was considerably work. We lost power in our house and decided to get in the car and head out of Kumamoto, in part so that we could get access to the internet and maintain communications.
English info from Japanese expat Sayuri Goto
http://kumainfo.exblog.jp/25671276/
Information about Kumamoto (mainly about Kumamoto city)
Here is the most important information. (15 April 2016)I would like to update...
I posted a translation earlier of information i saw on a japanese friends facebook (also shared the original post). Another JET provided a screen cap later from NHK's twitter reporting the information to be FALSE.
Apolgies for not taking the time to research it BEFORE sharing and for the time it took to get it down - ive been a bit busy at my school helping connect city officials with the principal and helping the ppl who evacuated here, giving out blankets, etc.
-Sara
TV Live - NHK WORLD - English
NHK WORLD TV Live Streamning
【UPDATE】
The volunteer effort in Kumamoto City has been postponed until further notice.
=================================
Information about volunteering has been released!
Apparently there have been numerous inquiries from people in other prefectures, but because damage can still occur due to the (seemingly never - ending) aftershocks, they are asking people to wait until Thursday the 21st, when they will officially begin accepting volunteers. If prep goes smoothly, though, they may open it sooner.
The volunteer activities are expected to be centered around clean up of fallen items in homes and other debris. Mashiki plans to match volunteers with the kind of work they want to do as well as provide materials and transportation to and from the sites.
They haven't decided where the volunteer HQ will be yet, but they're currently working on reaching out to residents at evacuation centers to see who needs what kind of help as well as ascertain which locations are safe enough for volunteers to go to.
Higashi-ku in Kumamoto is also setting up a volunteer HQ at the Higashi-ku Jimusho and will be accepting volunteers (both individuals and organizations) from within Kumamoto Prefecture starting tomorrow, the 16th, until Wednesday, the 20th. They are also accepting requests from residents in need of assistance. Volunteers are asked to gather at the Higashi-ku Jimusho by 8:30 am, after which they will be transported to the homes of those who need help cleaning up (mostly the elderly and handicapped individuals).
The number to call for more information is ０９６（２８２）８３７９
Address for the center :
熊本市東区錦ヶ丘1-1
Parking is limited, though, so they ask that everyone take public transportation if they can.
-Sara
現地ボランティア、２１日から受付 益城町社協－熊本のニュース│ くまにちコム
熊本日日新聞社が取材した熊本のニュース。新聞紙面に掲載前の記事もお伝えします。
Here's another still from this evening's Hodo Station. The yellow points indicate areas where some kind of serious damage was reported. The castle, for example, is one yellow dot. One thing this map illustrates is that the relationship between the severity of the shaking and the distance from the epicenter (shown in red toward the bottom of the screen) is not simple. Mashiki, for example, is not the closest point to the epicenter, though I have heard that the area hardest hit is just above a fault.
-- Kirk
From Gary Irwin, JET in Kikuyo
Irishman describes terror of being caught up in Japanese earthquake
Limerick man Garry Irwin tells how he was caught up the the mayhem surrounding the earthquake in Kumamoto city
A TV program called Hodo Station reports that aftershocks of about 6- on the Japanese scale can be expected for about a week. Here's the description of 6- (6-lower) provided by Wikipedia:
Difficult to keep standing.
A lot of heavy and unfixed furniture moves and falls. It is impossible to open the door in many cases. All objects will shake violently. Strongly and severely felt outside. Light posts swing, and electric poles can fall down, causing fires.
Less earthquake-resistant houses collapse and even walls and pillars of other homes are damaged. Apartment buildings can collapse by floors falling down onto each other.
Less earthquake-resistant buildings easily receive heavy damage and may be destroyed. Even highly earthquake-resistant buildings have large cracks in walls and will be moderately damaged, at least. In some buildings, wall tiles and windowpanes are damaged and fall.
Gas pipes and/or water mains will be damaged. Gas, water and electricity are interrupted. Small to medium cracks appear in the ground, and larger landslides take place. 2.50–3.15 m/s² VIII-X
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Meteorological_Agency_seismic_intensity_scale
I was able to get the full audio for William Baerg's interview on the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03qc76v#play
-- KIrk
The BBC tweeted a couple of the photos I took today.
-- Kirk
I am pleased to report that our own William Baerg, who has been doing lots of good work recently as a co-editor of the page, was interviewed about the earthquake by the BBC. Unfortunately, I missed his introduction and his first few words but I got most of it. I'm posting it as a video because it's been my experience that Facebook doesn't allow audio posts.
By the way, nice job William!
-- Kirk
William here.There was a question regarding the history of seismic activity in Kumamoto. The link below is a handy chart to earthquake location and estimated magnitude over the last 150 years or so. As you can see, this was the largest quake in the region since the 1890s. http://www.jishin.go.jp/main/yosokuchizu/kyushu-okinawa/p43_kumamoto.jpg
Here are some stills from the TV3 segment I introduced a minute ago, including one of yours truly.
-- Kirk
The video can be found at
http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/damage-and-devastation-following-japan-quake-2016041518#axzz45stNWZZY
As a result of posts I had been making here on Kumamoto International, I was interviewed by New Zealand's TV3.
-- Kirk
P.S. When I started talking I didn't realize that this would be seen by many, many people. I should have tidied up my room and closed the closet doors you see in the back. :)
http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/damage-and-devastation-following-japan-quake-2016041518#axzz45stNWZZY
Damage and devastation following Japan quake
Some buildings crumbled and others caught fire in the aftermath of last nights big earthquake in Japan
Thanks to Kuma Visit for this useful information.
As I posted earlier, I went to the Mashiki area today to see if there was anything I might do. I asked people I happened to meet if they had enough water and other supplies. I thought I might ride my bicycle to a store to get some supplies for them. What I wound up doing was going to the Mashiki-machi Town Hall (yakuba), picking up supplies that were being handed out free of charge, and delivering them to people for whom it would have been a bit of hardship to walk all the way to the town hall and back.
I did this for four families. My impression is that the town hall will have enough supplies but that getting them to people who are not very mobile may be a problem. If you can meet the following conditions, you might want to consider doing what I did -- making your way to Mashiki and going through the neighborhood offering to fetch supplies for people from the town hall:
* You can converse in Japanese or go with someone who can converse in Japanese (you need to able to ask the people what they need and explain what you can do on their behalf).
* You can get to Mashiki without trying to park a car in Mashiki (congestion is a real problem -- if you can get to Mashiki via bicycle that would probably be best).
* You are healthy and can handle the physical exertion required to move back and forth between residential areas either on foot or a bicycle, preferably a mountain bike with big tires.
* You understand that the work may be dangerous (there is a lot of broken glass, rubble, opening and breaks in the pavement and there are also dangers of aftershocks, etc.).
While I was there I asked about formally organized volunteer efforts but was told that nothing had been put together yet.
-- Kirk
