Abstract
On 11 March 2011, at 14:46 local time, a massive earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Japan with a magnitude of 9.0 and it triggered a massive tsunami and aftershocks. This series of devastated earthquake disaster, so called “The Great East Japan Earthquake”, caused a great human and property damage on the coastal area of Iwate located at the east end of the main island of Japan that is known for the beautiful scenic coast called “Riku-chu Kaigan” and rich fishing grounds. It also generated a great amount of disaster wastes.
Miyako Health, Welfare and Environment Center has a jurisdiction over Miyako region (Miyako and Yamada district) which consists of one city, two towns and one village (Miyako city, Yamada town, Iwaizumi town and Tanohata village) located at northern part of the coastal area of Iwate prefecture. (see Map 1)
The amount of disaster wastes which were generated at Miyako region account for nearly 30% of wastes generated in Iwate prefecture. It included regionally specific organic wastes such as fish and shell to produce marine products and caused sanitation problem such as offensive odors and outbreak of insect pest.
In consideration of these circumstances, we report our disaster waste management approaches including the control of offensive odors and insect pest from a standpoint of the local organization.
