FUKUSHIMA -- Residents of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures have been busy cleaning up their homes following the powerful earthquake that struck late Saturday night.
Next month will mark 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the Tohoku region in March 2011. Once again, local residents have been plunged into anxiety.
In Shinchi, Fukushima Prefecture, roof tiles and sections of exterior walls fell off homes. At the house of Hirofumi Fukushima, a 63-year-old company employee, repair work began on the roof before 7 a.m. on Monday.
Rain was forecast for the day, so his neighbors helped by climbing onto the roof to fit tiles that had been about to fall off and cover them with blue sheets.
Fukushima said Saturday's earthquake, which registered upper 6 on Japan's seismic intensity scale of 7, felt stronger than the 2011 quake. His two-story wooden house had cracks in the walls, windows were broken and dishes were scattered about inside. The water supply in the area was temporarily cut off, but was restored Monday morning.
"It's been almost 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. I never thought we'd experience [a strong quake] again," said his 62-year-old wife, Yoko.
-- Exam takers affected
Due to the earthquake, bullet train service on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line has been suspended between Nasushiobara and Morioka stations. On Monday morning, many people were seen looking for alternative means of transportation at JR Morioka and Sendai stations.
Chiyu Takahashi, 18, attends high school in Morioka and was scheduled to take a university entrance exam in Tokyo on Tuesday. She said she aims to reach Tokyo by Shinkansen after having her mother drive her to Nasushiobara Station in Tochigi Prefecture.
"I expected the impact of the earthquake, but I didn't imagine this much disruption," she said.
-- Protecting evacuees
In Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, evacuation centers were set up at 74 locations where up to 245 people took shelter. As of 9 a.m. on Monday, two days after the quake, 60 people were still evacuated in Fukushima Prefecture.
The Sports Arena Soma in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, has two gymnasiums and was being used as an evacuation center. As part of measures against the novel coronavirus, evacuees have had their temperature taken and the facility has been disinfected thoroughly with alcohol.
A separate section was prepared in an annex of one gymnasium for evacuees with symptoms such as fever. An ambulance was also put on standby, while arrangements were made to conduct antigen tests inside the ambulance.
The city government allocated to households 35 tents that it procured last autumn and placed them at intervals.
Meanwhile, 70 schools were temporarily closed Monday in the two prefectures due to damage to school buildings caused by the earthquake and other reasons. In Sendai, 107 elementary and junior high schools canceled school lunches.
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