We are going to tell you about the situation of Tagajo High School soon after the disaster. When the earthquake happened, most of students were at the school. They took refuge in the schoolyard under teachers’ guidance while the shaking didn’t calm down. Since the power was out, the trains were not running. So, about 120 students stayed at the school that night. They also couldn’t watch the news, so no one knew that the tsunami had come close. The staff room was very messy immediately after the earthquake like the picture. The photo below is a photo of the petroleum refinery that exploded, causing a 100-meter pillar of fire that night. It was only a few kilometers from school. It scared the students who spent the night at the school.

Electricity wasn’t working so we used halogen lamps powered with batteries from the baseball-pitching machine to see. Hallways were also illuminated with candles. It was an uneasy night followed by big aftershocks. Students spending the night at the school saw the tsunami damage on the way to their house next morning for the first time. They were very shocked. The place where there was a tsunami is a pale red. Much damage happened within 5 km of Tagajo High School.