Okawa Elementary School
was an educational institution in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The school was destroyed in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. 74 of its 108 students, who had been sheltering in the school on the instructions of their teachers rather than evacuating to higher ground, were killed as it ran up the nearby Kitakami River. Only four of the students present when the tsunami struck the school survived. Ten of the school's eleven teachers also died. It was found that the school was unprepared for such an event, and that the scale of the tsunami had not been realized until it was too late. In 2014, the families of 23 of the children who died sued Ishinomaki City and Miyagi Prefecture for compensation. In October 2016, they were awarded compensation of ¥1.4 billion (US$12.8 million). The school was formally closed in 2018.

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

After the earthquake struck, the school sustained substantial damage, with most of its windows having shattered and the entire building at risk of collapse from aftershocks. Teachers gathered the students in the schoolyard and discussed where to evacuate. A hill behind the school was considered a viable option for evacuation, however, due to concerns of possible landslides and falling trees and rocks, it was decided that this was not the best option. Some students attempted to run up the hill, but were stopped by a teacher who ordered them to return to the schoolyard. During discussions of deciding where to evacuate, a school bus that 45 people can ride on was waiting. However, according to the co-worker of the deceased driver of the bus, the driver refused to depart as the bus “cannot depart without orders from the school”. 20 students’ parents arrived to the school to pick up their children and left after writing their names on the paper. Some parents reported that the tsunami is arriving soon. The teachers convinced some of the parents to stay with their child as being with them were “safer”. One of the child’s mother who were convinced sent her husband a mail at 3:29PM “I am in the school with my child” and later died to the tsunami. Some of the parents saw the children stopped from running to the hill behind the school begging to their teachers to let them evacuate and that they’ll die if they stay here. The group of teachers and students, along with civillians who evacuated to the school began to evacuate to the higher ground in National Route 398 over 40 minutes after the earthquake occurred.

After the group had reached prefectural route, a wave of tsunami began swallowing the crowd from the front. A teacher and several students who were at the rearmost of the line turned back and started running toward the hill behind the school. Some students and a teacher who turned back survived, but some students couldn’t move seeing the large tsunami. The ground the group was heading to was few meters lower than the tsunami and were also swallowed by it. The issued tsunami warning’s height was changed to 10 from 6 meters in 15:14, while the ground was around 6 to 7 meter high.

Aftermath of the tsunami
The school as the result of the tsunami, merged with Futamata elementary school due to decreased number of students.

Related Article
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

References 

Ishinomaki
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
1873 establishments in Japan
Schools in Miyagi Prefecture
Educational institutions established in 1873
Buildings damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami