Evacuation drills paid off in tsunami-hit Noto area in Japan

SUZU - All residents in a district in Japan's Noto Peninsula managed to evacuate safely from tsunami waves unleashed by the 7.6-magnitude earthquake on Jan 1, thanks to years of disaster evacuation drills.

"It wasn't a miracle. The drills paid off," said a resident of the Jikeshimode district of Misaki in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, at the tip of the central Japan peninsula.

The district has 90 residents, mostly aged people, according to Jiji Press.

Although many houses collapsed due to the quake, all residents managed to evacuate to higher ground within five minutes.

Tsunami waves began to hit the district, home to Suzu Shrine, said to have been built some 2,000 years ago, shortly after the 7.6-magnitude temblor struck around 4.10pm on Jan 1.

As soon as the temblor struck, residents prepared themselves for a tsunami wave. Their preparedness had been enhanced through evacuation drills, conducted once or twice a year after the March 2011 quake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan.

On Jan 1, residents began evacuating swiftly, ascending slopes without carrying belongings. They headed for an assembly hall on a hill.

Neighbors assisted one another during the evacuation, carrying on their backs those who had difficulty walking. The first tsunami wave arrived just after all residents reached the hall, about five minutes after the quake.

In each past drill, the time spent to evacuate was measured.

When the quake struck, "I panicked and couldn't think calmly," said resident Toshitaka Okuhama, 68. But he said his legs naturally carried him to the hall.

A 53-year-old woman said tsunami waves came very quickly to the district.

"I'm horrified to think what would have happened if we hadn't run," she said. "Everyone could have died if no training had been conducted regularly. It wasn't a miracle. The drills paid off." - BERNAMA