Preventive Measures in the 2011 Japanese Earthquake Disaster
Summary
The 2011 Japanese earthquake followed by the triggered tsunami and nuclear disaster caused severe damage to the country. The three major events cost billions of dollars of damage and the earthquake, rated 9 on the moment magnitude scale, is the largest to ever hit Japan and the fourth largest in the world; more than 10,000 of its people lost their lives. For such an earthquake and tsunami prone country, it was a devastating blow their knowledge. Five year later, at the present, investigations have found that several preventive measures could have been taken to reduce causalities and damages to infrastructure. Discovering the lack of preparedness can led to better serve for …show more content…
The Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, with its 7.9 magnitude on the moment scale, caused the deaths of 140,000 residents and forced Japan to reevaluate its earthquake resistance (Hammer, 2011). This paper will explore the preventive measures that were taken for the event. The main information pulled for this paper are from web articles including scientific journals. Many are news articles written during and after the disaster. The writing of an event that happened across the world is also in itself simply because a lot of the news is geared towards a Japanese audience and many measurements, words and ideas did not translate well into English. Also, many primary sources are in Japanese only which made it …show more content…
Short-term earthquake predictions are hard to rely on so when an earthquake happens in Japan, sometimes it is a surprise. A tsunami, on the other hand, can already be prepared for once an earthquake occurs. Japan has had centuries to prepare for the incoming waves yet in 2011, the amount of victims underestimates the knowledge that the country possesses of these disasters. What went wrong? A few months after the nuclear meltdown, the operating company behind the plant admits he ignore reports that this seawall would not be strong enough to hold off a large tsunami (Fackler, 2012). The company was overconfident it its ability to prevent such a disaster. Also, about a decade before the earthquake, seismologists have begun to see signs that a major earthquake and tsunami similar to the 2011 one, happened in 869 A.D. Areas devastated matched well with those of the earthquake and tsunami in 869. Yet the earthquake modelers did not take heed to the research (Oskin, 2015). Japan has a great advantage over technology in the global economy; they showcase the world their amazing technology advances in artificial intelligence, automobiles, phones, and also natural disaster technology. There is a heavy safety myth in Japan about these disasters both because they happen so often and also because their technology has been proven to work. Both of these things contributed to
Summary
The 2011 Japanese earthquake followed by the triggered tsunami and nuclear disaster caused severe damage to the country. The three major events cost billions of dollars of damage and the earthquake, rated 9 on the moment magnitude scale, is the largest to ever hit Japan and the fourth largest in the world; more than 10,000 of its people lost their lives. For such an earthquake and tsunami prone country, it was a devastating blow their knowledge. Five year later, at the present, investigations have found that several preventive measures could have been taken to reduce causalities and damages to infrastructure. Discovering the lack of preparedness can led to better serve for …show more content…
The Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, with its 7.9 magnitude on the moment scale, caused the deaths of 140,000 residents and forced Japan to reevaluate its earthquake resistance (Hammer, 2011). This paper will explore the preventive measures that were taken for the event. The main information pulled for this paper are from web articles including scientific journals. Many are news articles written during and after the disaster. The writing of an event that happened across the world is also in itself simply because a lot of the news is geared towards a Japanese audience and many measurements, words and ideas did not translate well into English. Also, many primary sources are in Japanese only which made it …show more content…
Short-term earthquake predictions are hard to rely on so when an earthquake happens in Japan, sometimes it is a surprise. A tsunami, on the other hand, can already be prepared for once an earthquake occurs. Japan has had centuries to prepare for the incoming waves yet in 2011, the amount of victims underestimates the knowledge that the country possesses of these disasters. What went wrong? A few months after the nuclear meltdown, the operating company behind the plant admits he ignore reports that this seawall would not be strong enough to hold off a large tsunami (Fackler, 2012). The company was overconfident it its ability to prevent such a disaster. Also, about a decade before the earthquake, seismologists have begun to see signs that a major earthquake and tsunami similar to the 2011 one, happened in 869 A.D. Areas devastated matched well with those of the earthquake and tsunami in 869. Yet the earthquake modelers did not take heed to the research (Oskin, 2015). Japan has a great advantage over technology in the global economy; they showcase the world their amazing technology advances in artificial intelligence, automobiles, phones, and also natural disaster technology. There is a heavy safety myth in Japan about these disasters both because they happen so often and also because their technology has been proven to work. Both of these things contributed to