As a result of the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake in Japan, which took place on March 11, 2011, nearly 30,000 people were killed or are still missing. As can be clearly seen from the map of the magnitude of shaking intensity (see, for example, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fast-facts-japan), several research facilities were affected by this disaster. Very strong quakes took place in Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture, where the Photon Factory, a synchrotron source, is located. However, first of all, the map does not correspond very well to the loss of lives and damage to buildings, roads, railways and other infrastructure. While the coastal areas of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures were destroyed by the tsunami, many cities and towns in the inland area were quite safe. In spite of the largest earthquake since scientific surveys started, damage was minimal. No lives were lost, and no buildings were completely destroyed in the campus of the Photon Factory. The detailed status of the facility is available in the following Web page, http://pfwww.kek.jp/whats_new/earthquakeinfo/announce_e.html.
All beamtime allocated in the term from May to September has been cancelled. On the other hand, another Japanese synchrotron radiation facility, SPring-8 had no damage, because the location is far from the source of the earthquake. The SPring-8 plans to accept some users of the Photon Factory for experiments. For further information, visit the Web page, http://www.spring8.or.jp/en/urgentnews/110401
