Intro
Earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan at Tohoku.
seismic shaking lasting an unusually long six minutes.
The death tall was 16,000 resulting 30 metre tsunami waves (caused most of the deaths)
Monitoring and Education of the Public (prep)
-Experienced significant earthquake activity in the past and earthquake preparation has become one element of the country’s national Disaster Management Plan’.
-The Japanese government spend over £80 million annually on earthquake prediction studies + 200 seismographs to allow continuous monitoring. -Population are well prepared through things such as the annual disaster practice days on 1st September, when the whole nation practices an earthquake evacuation drill.
-Street signs mark escape routes
Japan’s Building Codes (prep)
-Japan has the most rigorous earthquake building codes in the world - considered significantly prepared for seismic activity in advance of 2011.
-Principle of ‘build back better’ which aims to apply lessons that have been gained during previous earthquakes to improve safety
-1950, the Kyu-Taishin earthquake building codes were first legally enforced across the country. Following a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in 1978, even stricter codes were introduced, known as Shin-Taishin.
-2007, Japan also introduced additional regulations which involved independent double-checking was undertaken of many buildings to bring them up to required standards.
Japan’s Tsunami Walls (prep)
-Prior to the 2011 earthquake, Japan had invested heavily in sea wall defences against tsunamis. Around 40% of the coastline was protected by sea walls, some up to 12 metres in height.
-Despite the introduction of tsunami walls, 94.5% of the deaths from this earthquake happened due to the tsunami. In many locations the tsunami walls were simply overtopped. This created the additional problem of trapping water behind them.
Immediate response
-Japanese Government declaring an emergency and initiating the national disaster plan.
-The Japanese Red Cross received over $1 billion in emergency donations, and they pave out over 30,000 emergency relief kits.
-Japan’s existing earthquake warning system activated 8 seconds after first seismic wave
-A tsunami warning was also issued three minutes after the earthquake, giving coastal residents 20-40 minutes to evacuate.
-Due to power cuts some television and radio systems were unable to warn coastal residents of the tsunami
Response to the Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown
-largest nuclear disasters of recent years when the reactors in the nuclear power plant at Fukushima overheated, releasing radioactivity into the air. -The immediate response was evacuation with 80,000 people were evacuated. 136,000 people living within 20-30km away from the nuclear plant were told to stay indoors.
-In the longer term, there remains increased risk of cancer among the population and with certain fish such as cod being declared inedible for at least 10 years after the event.
Long Term Response
-Japanese Government passed the Tsunami Countermeasures Act - 5th of November designated as a Tsunami Preparedness Day. The country also unveiled a new tsunami warning system in March 2013.
-The rebuilding of the worst affected areas began almost immediately but in the longer term the government set up a Reconstruction Design Council who had a budget of over 23 trillion Yen over 10 years to rebuild houses. -In March 2015 the Japanese authorities produced plans to construct a 400km sea wall to improve their tsunami defences.
controversial as there are debates about the effectiveness of tsunami sea walls and wider environmental concerns, as the sea walls will disrupt marine ecosystems
