OSHIKA, Miyagi Pref. — Survivors of the March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami are expressing reservations about returning to their homes, raising the prospect of already depopulated communities turning into ghost towns.

"I have no desire to live here anymore," said Masashi Abe, 54, as he and his son, Kohei, 17, looked around the wasteland that was once their home in Ikohama on Miyagi Prefecture's Oshika Peninsula. "About 35 years ago, our home was destroyed by another tsunami and we only recently finished paying off that loan. I couldn't face starting all over knowing that the same thing might happen again."

Similar sentiments are expressed in communities up and down the coast.