Disaster Reports

Remembering and Recovering

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The devastation from the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and the subsequent tsunami and nuclear disasters ten years ago took a deep toll on the communities up and down the northeastern coast of Japan.

While people in the affected areas have grieved their losses, repaired or rebuilt their homes and businesses, re-established communities, and are going on with their lives as best they can, the recovery from that disaster is still actually ongoing. In one area the big road that was supposed to provide an escape route if another tsunami came is still under construction. In another area there are still a few evacuees who are not settled in permanent housing.

This month organizations all over Japan are preparing events to memorialize the ten year mark. Coming just one month before that anniversary, this earthquake has shaken people emotionally.

Pastors are reporting the distress of people in their communities. Many who have worked hard over the last ten years to overcome their trauma have found themselves again dealing with anxiety, stress, and flashbacks. After picking up the pieces of our lives, and working to return to order in the community, this quake has reminded everyone of how very vulnerable we are. The things that we take for granted, the order of our lives, the buildings and structures that we depend on for safety and comfort, all can become uncertain when the ground shakes.

Please join us in praying for healing and peace for these communities and individuals, and wisdom and safety for the pastors and missionaries who minister there.

Earthquake off the Coast of Fukushima

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Last Saturday evening at 11:07 p.m. a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck northeastern Japan. The focus was off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of 55 kilometers. This earthquake did not trigger a tsunami, and there have been no deaths reported. However, over 150 injuries have been reported across six prefectures. Close to a million homes lost power for several hours, and some areas are still having trouble with their water supply. Buildings, roads, electric poles and Shinkansen bridges have been damaged and one section of highway was destroyed by a landslide triggered by the earthquake.

Seismologists are saying that this earthquake is actually an aftershock of the 2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake that spawned the tsunami and nuclear disasters that followed. It is the strongest quake in this area since April 2011, and some people who lived through the 2011 quake report that they felt that this one shook even more than that one did. Dishes broke, books and objects were tossed about, furniture that was not secured was toppled, and for many, the feeling of safety that was beginning to be re-established after the devastation from 10 years ago was shaken, too.

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An aftershock, 10 years later.

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Just after 11pm on Saturday evening, as we were preparing to go to sleep, the dog started barking, and then the shaking began. I could hear the rattling of the cabinet doors and the dishes in the drain clattered. Opening the front door I could hear the shaking of the ground and all the houses around us. Where I live in Tokyo, it registered 4 on the Japanese scale. At its source off the coast of Fukushima it was a strong 6 on the same Japanese scale.

Six prefectures have reported people with injuries, though no serious injuries have been confirmed and no casualties have been reported. Power was out for almost a million people, but was mostly restored within a few hours. There is damage to roads and buildings, a landslide that took out part of a highway, and a lot of clean up to do. Broken dishes and toppled bookshelves are just the beginning.

This quake comes almost exactly 10 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, which triggered the tsunami, and the following nuclear disasters. Experts are telling us that this, too, is an aftershock. That due to the size of the 2011 quake, it is not unusual to have an aftershock of this size ten years later.

Organizations that responded to the 2011 disasters have been planning their 10 year anniversary programs. Here at CRASH Japan we have also been planning how to appropriately mark this occasion. There is a desire to celebrate recovery, and put the hard parts of it behind us. We would like to be able to say ‘That is all over now. We are done with it.’ But an event like this reminds us that we are vulnerable.

Cooperation from nationwide network

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In this video (Japanese only), CGN TV (Christian Global Network Television Japan) reported on a meeting of the nationwide collection of regional Christian disaster relief networks, as well as describing the beginning work by the Kyushu network in response to the floods and relief goods supplied by other networks and ministries. It includes comments from a few pastors and a list of churches with damage. Please pray for these churches and for the work being done.

Flooded churches and early relief work

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Please pray for southern Kyushu. Torrential rains on July 4th and 5th caused severe floods – here is one of many news reports: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/06/asia/japan-flooding-kumamoto-kagoshima-intl-hnk/index.html

Below is a report on churches in southern Kumamoto Prefecture – the text is in the process of being translated into English.

熊本県南部のために祈ってください。以下は教会の状況と最初の支援活動について、クリスチャン新聞のニュースです。

7月4日から5日にかけて熊本県南部を襲った豪雨は、球磨川氾濫による浸水被害もあって、熊本県人吉市、葦北郡、鹿児島県薩摩川内市の教会や信徒宅に被害が出ている。被害状況は以下の通り。

人吉聖書教会の被害
  • 人吉バイブル・プロテスタント基督教会（森下薫牧師）は床上浸水し、7月6日現在停電中で、車も水に浸かり使用できない状況。
  • トータル・人吉神愛キリスト教会（土肥洋子牧師）は、土肥牧師が4日早朝5時に避難。教会は高台にあり浸水は免れたが、牧師宅は完全に水没。
  • アッセンブリー・人吉キリスト教会（大﨏浩嗣牧師）は信徒宅で床上浸水。
  • イエス栄光芦北教会（松岡欣也牧師）は信徒宅で浸水被害。
  • 水俣福音キリスト教会（神薗悟牧師）は、教会には被害はなかったが、地域の一部の人が教会に避難している。
  • 希望キリスト教会川内チャペル（松本貢牧師）は床上浸水に遭った。

九州キリスト災害支援センター（九キ災）は4日、熊本ベースを「九州南部豪雨災害対応拠点」とし、安全を確認しながら、視察、情報収集、資材の移動を開始。6日に市来雅伸本部長、諸藤栄一熊本ベースディレクターを現地視察に派遣し、人吉バイブル・プロテスタント基督教会を訪問、支援物資を届けた。「人吉市にあるともしび聖書キャンプ場の松崎義治スタッフが加わり、地域の人々に支援物資を配布した。支援にかけつけた熊本東聖書キリスト教会（豊世武士牧師）の皆様とも共に支援活動ができた」という。