Survival of Shrines from the 2011 Great Tsunami

A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 occurred on March 11, 2011, and a powerful tsunami devastated a large area along Japan’s eastern coastline. We investigated the tsunami damage using satellite images and aerial photographs, and visited damaged sites including 27 shrines near the coast in 2011 and 2012. It was found that all but two of these shrines survived the tsunami, even though the tsunami height differed from place to place. As a memorial to people who lost their lives in previous tsunamis, shrines were built on safe places where people can evacuate. Many of these shrines were undamaged because their elevation was higher than the tsunami height, and the lives of people who evacuated to the shrines were saved.