DISTRIBUTION OF THE PINE TREES DROWNED BY TOHOKU TSUNAMI ALONG SENDAI COASTAL AREA

Abstract

 The 3.11-Tohoku tsunami caused severe damages on not only houses but windbreak forestry along the north east coast of Japan. In Sendai coastal area, pine trees were planted along the coast with around 500m width against storm surges. People had believed that the windbreak forestry would act as filter against any tsunami. But, almost all of the windbreak forest trees were washed away from the roots in the region during the 3.11 tsunami. In this study, the distribution of the pine trees were washed away by tsunami into landward is revealed by GIS analysis. The total number of the drowned tree reached 21,054. The pine trees were mostly scattered around 1km - 3km from the coastal line. Some houses in the damaged area were protected by the trees those stood against tsunami.