2021 Volume 21 Issue 4 Pages 4_86-4_122
At 14:46 JST on March 11, 2011, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 9.0 struck northern part of Honshu Island, Japan. This paper first presents the distribution of 271 sites where the damages were particularly severe in Shirakawa City and the surrounding area, Fukushima during the earthquake. They can be classified roughly into five categories according to the types of damage: landslide and natural slope failure, sliding and failure of earth structure and large-scale developed area by cutting and filling hills, ground deformation due to soil liquefaction in low-lying area, vibrational damage, and over-turning of gravestone and stone pagoda. Next, the land conditions of 14 areas where severe and widespread ground failure-induced damage are investigated. Finally, the geomorphological and geological characteristics of the damaged areas are summarized and problems in countermeasures against future earthquake disaster are discussed.
