Overview
- NTT East announced on December 26 that repairs to the rooftop steel tower at its Aomori Hachinohe building are complete, restoring seismic strength to pre-earthquake levels.
- The December 8 earthquake off eastern Aomori fractured one support column and loosened bolts on the roughly 70-meter structure.
- Hachinohe City issued evacuation orders and closed a section of National Route 45 after the quake, with both measures lifted on December 23.
- Repair work began December 15, welding the broken section and re-tightening bolts, and the company says routine preventive maintenance will continue.
- In Nachikatsuura, Wakayama, a four-story, 20-meter tsunami evacuation tower opened for daily use as an observation spot with a foot bath and can shelter about 400 people during a projected 4.4-meter tsunami.