A high court ruled Thursday that the deaths of over 23 Okawa Elementary School students in tsunami following the March 2011 earthquake in Tohoku could have been prevented if Miyagi Prefecture and the city of Ishinomaki had updated its disaster contingency plan.

The Sendai High Court ordered local authorities to pay around ¥1.4 billion ($13 million) in damages to the children's families, raising the amount of compensation by about ¥10 million from a lower court ruling.

The authorities "failed to fulfill their obligation to revamp a risk management manual in line with the realities of Okawa Elementary School," Judge Hiroshi Ogawa said, adding that "If the manual had designated a 20-meter-high location for evacuation" the deaths could have been prevented.