Damage to MR scanners caused by the tsunami that followed The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011

摘要

The Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE, magnitude: 9.0), the largest one in modern Japanese record, struck east Japan at 14:16 (JST) on March 11, 2011. The Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake (GHAE) in 1995 (magnitude: 7.3) was the first great earthquake after MR scanners became commonplace in medical facilities. Since GHAE, anchoring of radiological facilities has been emphasized to prevent earthquake damage. In GEJE, we encountered a tsunami disaster, which has not been a major concern in MR safety management. Among the 187 facilities with MR scanners in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, 43 facilities within 10 km of the Pacific coast were selected for this investigation.1'2 Basic information on the disaster, such as the flooded area and magnitude distribution, was obtained using public databases