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46-663: Minamisanriku is in the far northeastern corner of Miyagi Prefecture. Its coastline is part of the Sanriku Fukkō National Park , which stretches north to Aomori Prefecture . The town is bordered to the north, west, and south by the Kitakami Mountains . About 70% of the area of the town is forested. Minamisanriku has a humid climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfa ) characterized by warm humid summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Mutsu

92-456: A distress signal when both operators were off-duty. Eventually, equipment was invented to summon operators by ringing an alarm in the operator's cabin, and on the bridge, and the only switch able to disable the alarm was only permitted to be in the wireless telegraph room. The alarm was sent by the operator on the ship in distress transmitting the radiotelegraph alarm signal (auto-alarm) signal—twelve extra-long dashes, each lasting four seconds with

138-579: A one-second gap between them, and transmitted in A2 (modulated CW). The alarm signal was normally sent with a mechanical or electronic timing circuit to ensure it was sent accurately. However, ships radio room clocks typically had markings on the dial to guide operators in sending the signal manually. The regulations for the auto-alarm were defined in the 1927 Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) international maritime regulations, and in Article ;19, § 21, of

184-464: A reminder of the damage the building sustained, has been preserved during the city's recovery. A new sea wall is also currently under construction in Minamisanriku, and other landmarks, such as the town's seafood market, have also been rebuilt. The market was one of the first amenities in the town to reopen, initially in a temporary location inside a large tent; as much of the town's fishing fleet

230-568: A snowbank or formed out of logs on a beach. "S O S" being readable upside down as well as right side up (as an ambigram ) is an advantage for visual recognition. Radio (initially known as "wireless telegraphy") was developed in the late 1890s, and was quickly recognized as an important aid to maritime communication. Previously, seagoing vessels had adopted a variety of standardized visual and audio distress signals, using such things as semaphore flags, signal flares, bells, and foghorns. However, cooperation in standardizing radio distress signals

276-521: Is 11.4 °C (52.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,302.3 mm (51.27 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.0 °C (73.4 °F), and lowest in January, at around 0.7 °C (33.3 °F). Miyagi Prefecture Per Japanese census data, the population of Minamisanriku peaked in the 1950s and has declined steadily over

322-666: Is a national park extending along the Sanriku Coast of Japan from Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture through Iwate Prefecture to Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture . The national park was created on 24 May 2013 and covers a land area of 28,537 hectares (110.18 sq mi). On 2 May 1955 the Rikuchū Kaigan National Park ( 陸中海岸国立公園 , Rikuchū Kaigan Kokuritsu Kōen ) was created in

368-404: Is a Morse " procedural signal " or "prosign " , used as a start-of-message mark for transmissions requesting assistance when loss of life or catastrophic loss of property is imminent. Other prefixes are used for mechanical breakdowns, requests for medical assistance, and a relayed distress signal originally sent by another station. SOS remained the maritime radio distress signal until 1999, when it

414-399: Is noted for examples of sea erosion, with numerous rock pillars and islands. The northern coast is an example of an uplifted coastline, and is an area which has been subject to several strong earthquakes and tsunami in recent history. The southern coast is an example of a ria coastline of submerged river valleys, with deep inlets and narrow peninsulas, forming many small bays and coves. At

460-459: Is written with an overscore line ( SOS ), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" are transmitted as an unbroken sequence of three dots / three dashes / three dots, with no spaces between the letters. In International Morse Code three dots form the letter "S" and three dashes make the letter "O", so "S O S" became a common way to remember the order of

506-590: The Battle of the Atlantic . The signal "SSS" signaled attacked by submarines, while "RRR" warned of an attack by a surface raider, "QQQ" warned of an unknown raider (usually an auxiliary cruiser ), and "AAA" indicated an attack by aircraft. They were usually sent in conjunction with the SOS distress signal. All of these codes later switched from three repeats of the letter to four repeats, e.g., "RRRR". None of these signals

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552-692: The Home Front Command and the IDF's Medical Corps opened a field hospital near Minamisanriku on March 29. The clinic included surgical, pediatrics and maternity wards, and an intensive care unit, pharmacy and laboratory along with 62 tons of medical supplies. The clinic was active in treating patients immediately upon opening. On 23 April 2011, the Prime Minister of Australia , Julia Gillard , visited Minamisanriku. Minamisanriku relies heavily on tourism and commercial fishing as mainstays of

598-700: The Marconi International Marine Communication Company issued "Circular 57", which specified that, for the company's worldwide installations, beginning 1 February 1904 "the call to be given by ships in distress or in any way requiring assistance shall be C.Q.D. " An alternative proposal, put forward in 1906 by the U.S. Navy, suggested that the International Code of Signals flag signals should be adopted for radio use, including NC, which stood for "In distress; want immediate assistance". Germany

644-763: The North Carolina coast. The signal of the Arapahoe was received by the United Wireless Telegraph Company station at Hatteras, North Carolina , and forwarded to the steamer company's offices. However, there was some resistance among Marconi operators to adopting the new signal, and as late as the April ;1912 sinking of the RMS ; Titanic the ship's Marconi operators intermixed CQD and SOS distress calls. In

690-564: The Tōhoku region of Honshū in northern Japan . The park extended for 180 kilometers from north to south along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean from northern Miyagi prefecture to northern Iwate prefecture . It had a land area of 121.98 square kilometers (47.10 sq mi). On 24 May 2013 the park was incorporated into Sanriku Fukkō National Park. This was in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . It also includes

736-440: The black-tailed gull and shearwater . In terms of larger animals, there have also been sightings of the kamoshika . SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (   ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄  ), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS

782-603: The General Regulations annexed to the International Radiotelegraph Convention , 1927.5 5. The Auto Alarm receivers were designed to activate upon receiving four such dashes. Once four valid dashes are detected, the automatic alarm is activated. The distressed ship's operator would then delay sending the SOS message itself to give off-watch radio operators time to reach their radio room. The radiotelephony equivalent of

828-623: The United States through the first part of the twentieth century, three dashes stood for the numeral "5", so in a few cases the distress signal was informally referred to as "S 5 S".) The first ships that have been reported to have transmitted an SOS distress call were the Cunard oceanliner RMS  Slavonia on 10 June 1909 while sailing the Azores , and the steamer SS  Arapahoe on 11 August 1909 while off

874-462: The anniversary. To mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster in 1990, a bilingual Spanish-Japanese plaque was installed, with a message from President Patricio Aylwin of Chile, accompanied by a replica moai statue. The harbor walls proved ineffective in the 2011 tsunami, which washed over four-story buildings. The 2010 Chile earthquake caused a 1.3-metre (4.3 ft) tsunami in Minamisanriku. Immediate aftermath accounts suggested 95 percent of

920-406: The department remained standing but was completely gutted, with only a red-colored steel skeleton remaining. In the aftermath of the disaster, Endo was missing and was later confirmed to have died. Photos show the roof of the building completely submerged at the height of the inundation, with some people clinging to the rooftop antenna. The surviving steel frame, with bent sections being kept intact as

966-606: The dots and dashes. IWB, VZE, 3B, and V7 form equivalent sequences, but traditionally SOS is the easiest to remember. SOS, when it was first agreed upon by the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in 1906, was merely a distinctive Morse code sequence and was initially not an abbreviation. Later a backronym was created for it in popular usage, and SOS became associated with mnemonic phrases such as "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship". Moreover, due to its high-profile use in emergencies,

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1012-411: The event of a tsunami, one on the southern headland overlooking the town, the other back from the center of the town. Although both were 20 meters above sea level, the tsunami inundated them and washed people away. At least 31 of the town's 80 designated evacuation sites were inundated by the tsunami. The average height of the tsunami in Minamisanriku was around 45 feet (14 m) above the sea-level, with

1058-482: The following signal:   ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄  repeated at brief intervals". In both the 1 April 1905 German law and the 1906 international regulations, the distress signal is specified as a continuous Morse code sequence of three dots / three dashes / three dots, with no mention of any alphabetic equivalents. However there

1104-530: The former Tanesashi Kaigan Hashikamidake Prefectural Natural Park . On 31 March 2015, the Ministry of the Environment extended the park to include the former Minami Sanriku Kinkasan Quasi-National Park . Subsequently, the park will be extended to include Kesennuma Prefectural Natural Park , Kenjōsan Mangokuura Prefectural Natural Park , and Matsushima Prefectural Natural Park . The entire coastline

1150-477: The highest tsunami wave ever recorded in Japan at 38.2 metres (125.3 ft), until it was surpassed by a 40.4 metres (132.5 ft) wave at Miyako in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . The villages of Shizugawa and Utatsu were established on June 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Shizugawa was elevated to town status on October 31, 1895 and Utatsu on April 1, 1959. The town

1196-418: The highest watermark recorded at 67.3 feet (20.5 m) just southwest of the city center. According to an English teacher at the high school on a hill above the tsunami, "The entire town was simply swept away. It just no longer exists. There were around 7,000 of us on the hill that day. Perhaps a few thousand at the school on the hill opposite. But there are 17,000 in the town. All the others have gone." Since

1242-656: The interests of consistency and maritime safety, the use of CQD appears to have died out thereafter. Additional warning and distress signals followed the introduction of SOS. On 20 January 1914, the London International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea adopted as the "Safety Signal" the Morse code sequence "TTT"   ▄▄▄    ▄▄▄    ▄▄▄  (three "T's" (   ▄▄▄  ))—spaced normally as three letters so as not to be confused with

1288-609: The local economy. Minamisanriku has five public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Miyagi Prefectural Board of Education. [REDACTED] East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Kesennuma Line (Suspended indefinitely and replace by a BRT service) Sanriku Fukk%C5%8D National Park Sanriku Fukkō National Park ( 三陸復興国立公園 , Sanriku Fukkō Kokuritsu Kōen , lit.   ' Sanriku Reconstruction National Park ' )

1334-713: The northern part of the national park there is an 8-kilometer-long (5.0 mi) and 200-meter-high (660 ft) set of cliffs called the Kita Yamazaki . The scenic coastal rock formations are nicknamed the "Alps of the Sea". Aomori : Hachinohe , Hashikami Iwate : Fudai , Iwaizumi , Kamaishi , Kuji , Miyako , Noda , Ōfunato , Ōtsuchi , Rikuzentakata , Tanohata , Yamada Miyagi : Ishinomaki , Kesennuma , Minamisanriku , Onagawa , Tome Flora includes groves of Japanese red pine , rhododendrons and Rosa rugosa . Fauna includes numerous bird species, including

1380-603: The past 70 years. The area of present-day Minamisanriku was part of ancient Mutsu Province and came under the control of the Date clan of Sendai Domain during the Edo period , under the Tokugawa shogunate . The area has suffered from the effects of tsunami since ancient times, including the 869 Sanriku earthquake , and more recently during the 1896 Sanriku earthquake and the 1933 Sanriku earthquake . The 1896 earthquake resulted in

1426-489: The phrase "SOS" has entered general usage to informally indicate a crisis or the need for action. SOS originated in German government maritime radio regulations adopted effective 1 April 1905. It became a worldwide standard when it was included in the service regulations of the first International Radiotelegraph Convention signed on 3 November 1906, which became effective on 1 July 1908. In modern terminology, SOS

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1472-408: The radiotelegraph alarm signal is the radiotelephony alarm signal, which is the transmission of alternating tones of 2200 Hz and 1300 Hz, with each tone having a duration of 250 ms. Automatic alarm systems aboard ships must activate when such a signal is received and the receiving vessel is within 500 nmi (930 km) of the transmitting vessel's position, or if the distress position

1518-586: The roof. Miki Endo , a 25-year-old employed by the town's Crisis Management Department to voice disaster advisories and warnings, was hailed in the Japanese news media as a heroine for sacrificing her life by continuing to broadcast warnings and alerts over the community loudspeaker system, in the Crisis Management Department's building, as the tsunami overwhelmed it. She was credited with saving many lives. The three-story headquarters of

1564-572: The schools were all on high ground, many children were orphaned. Survivors wrote " SOS " in white lettering, in the playing field of Shizugawa High School. When the earthquake struck, the mayor, Jin Sato (佐藤仁), was talking at the town assembly about the much smaller tsunami caused by the March 9 foreshock of the March 11 earthquake. The three-story building of the town's Crisis Management Department ( 防災対策庁舎 , Bōsai Taisaku Chōsha ) which Sato escaped to

1610-403: The scope of this conference, so no standard signal was adopted at the time, although Article IV of the conference's Final Protocol stated that "Wireless telegraph stations should, unless practically impossible, give priority to calls for help received from ships at sea". Without international regulations, individual organizations were left to develop their practices. On 7 January 1904

1656-410: The three dashes of the letter O (   ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄  )—and used for messages to ships "involving safety of navigation and being of an urgent character" but short of an emergency. With the development of audio radio transmitters, there was a need for a spoken distress phrase, and " Mayday " (from French m'aider "help me")

1702-528: The town was destroyed by the 2011 Japanese tsunami that followed the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Only the tallest buildings remained, and roughly half the population was unaccounted for during the days following the disaster; only 9,700 people were confirmed alive and evacuated in the first week. In late June 2011, a total of 1,206 were counted as dead or missing, according to the Kahoku Shinpou. The town had two evacuation centers where residents could go in

1748-491: Was a convention in International Morse whereby three dots comprise the letter "S", and three dashes the letter "O", and it soon became common to informally refer to the distress signal as "S O S", with the 12 January 1907 Electrical World stating that "Vessels in distress use the special signal, SOS, repeated at short intervals." (In American Morse code , which was used by many coastal ships in

1794-543: Was adopted by the 1927 International Radio Convention as the spoken equivalent of SOS. For "TTT", the equivalent spoken signal is " Sécurité " (from French sécurité "safety") for navigational safety, while " Pan-pan " (from French panne "breakdown"; Morse "XXX") signals an urgent but not immediately dangerous situation. French was the international language at the time that these were formalized. During World War II , additional codes were employed to include immediate details about attacks by enemy vessels, especially in

1840-472: Was damaged, destroyed or swept away by the tsunami, residents banded together, sharing supplies and boats as part of a joint effort to resume the town's fishing industry. The town is the site of the first field hospital established by an outside nation offering assistance following the disaster. An initial team of five doctors from Israel set up a surgery in preparation for a larger team once needs were assessed. A 53-member delegation of medical personnel from

1886-534: Was formed through a merger on October 1, 2005, when the towns of Shizugawa and Utatsu , both from Motoyoshi District , merged to form the new town of Minamisanriku. The 1960 Valdivia earthquake triggered a tsunami that crossed the Pacific Ocean and struck the town of Shizugawa with a height of up to 2.8 metres (9.2 ft), causing extensive damage. As a result, two-story-high harbor walls were built by 1963, and residents held tsunami drills each year on

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1932-579: Was initially limited by national differences and rivalries between competing radio companies. In 1903, an Italian representative at the Berlin Preliminary Conference on Wireless Telegraphy , Captain Quintino Bonomo, discussed the need for common operating procedures, including the suggestion that "ships in distress ... should send the signal SSS DDD at intervals of a few minutes". However, procedural questions were beyond

1978-493: Was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System . SOS is still recognized as a standard distress signal that may be used with any signaling method. It has been used as a visual distress signal, consisting of three short/three long/three short flashes of light, such as from a survival mirror . In some cases the individual letters "S O S" have been spelled out, for example, stamped in

2024-575: Was submerged by the tsunami. Out of the 130 people who worked at the town hall, Sato was one of 53 who reached the roof and one of 10 who survived. He returned to government affairs, founding the headquarters for disaster control at the Bayside Arena in Miyagi on March 13, 2011. Shizugawa Hospital was one of the few major buildings that survived the tsunami. It was partly inundated, and 74 out of 109 patients died. Close to 200 people were rescued from

2070-699: Was the first country to adopt the SOS distress signal, which it called the Notzeichen signal, as one of three Morse code sequences included in national radio regulations which became effective on 1 April 1905. In 1906, the first International Radiotelegraph Convention met in Berlin, which produced an agreement signed on 3 November 1906 that become effective on 1 July 1908. The convention adopted an extensive collection of Service Regulations, including Article XVI, which read: "Ships in distress shall use

2116-612: Was used on its own. Sending SOS as well as the urgency signal ("XXX" in CW , and "PAN-PAN" in voice) and safety signal ("TTT" in CW, and "SECURITE" in voice) used similar procedures for effectiveness. These were always followed correctly. Ships and coastal stations would normally have required quiet times twice an hour to listen for priority signals, for 3 minutes, at different times for 500 kHz and 2182 kHz . Since many merchant vessels carried only one or two radio operators, no one might hear

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