The March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake was notable for the widespread damage caused by seismic activity, the tsunami devastation and the nuclear accident at Fukushima. This reference work, an English translation of the Architectural Institute of Japan's July 2011 report, deals with the first two issues, while acknowledging the difficulty of conducting the survey in areas near the nuclear power plant.
Geared toward professionals such as architects, engineers, geologists, other scientists and those dealing with seismic technology, the book is also accessible to the common, interested reader as roughly half the volume consists of photographs supplemented by graphs and charts.
Some of the most striking photographs include an image of a collapsed wood house with the roof intact in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture; the damage to the exterior wall of an office building due to the damaged internal ceiling; and damage to the pile foundations of an apartment building in Sendai, causing it to lean slightly like the tower in Pisa, Italy.