This sinkhole opened in the middle of the baseball field during the quake. It's not very big, but it's quite deep...and would seem to indicate there's a hollow space under the ground. Other parts of the field turned to quicksand because of liquefaction.
Inside the auditorium building looking toward the lobby and library. The underside panels of the eaves outside fell off. So did some of the ceiling inside.
Cracks around the pillars show how the whole building rocked back and forth during the quake.
In the auditorium. The windows on the front of the lighting gallery dropped off along with part of the ceiling.
Outside the auditorium building. We had already evacuated after the first, main quake, but most of the damage happened during a huge aftershock that hit us directly twenty minutes later. We were out on the piloti, or assembly ground, near where I took this picture when those panels came crashing down. The students freaked out.
Looking toward the piloti, where we were gathered, from under the art building. During that first, big aftershock, the art building was literally swaying back and forth on its legs. The students panicked and crowded back away from it, but it fortunately didn't collapse. You can see how the legs are damaged, though.
(Hopefully I won't get in trouble for this pic.) This is a view of the main playing field, where we set up tents and makeshift survival shelters to keep the kids warm while we waited out the disaster. It was hours before any of them were able to go home, and some wound up stranded and having to spend the night (though by then some rooms of the school had been cleared for safety).
Irony of ironies: This extra earthquake-proof reinforcement was added in the junior high and senior high buildings in the mid 2000's after a large quake had hit Niigata. At the time, many people called it a waste of money. As it turned out, the buildings (or at least the parts of the buildings) that had the reinforcement suffered no damage. I believe the proper Japanese phrase to use in this case is, "Hora, mirou!" (It's kind of like "I told you so!")
Hopefully I'll have some pics around town to post soon.
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