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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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October/November
2007
Volume 13 - Number
1/2 |
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Country
of Earthquakes: Japan
By Sachiko Nagase Surrounded by the Pacific Plate and the Philippine
Plate under the Eurasian Plate, Japan is famous for having earthquakes frequently.
According to Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, in 2007, there were
two earthquakes whose magnitudes were bigger than 6.6. Also, in past five
years, at least eight earthquakes recorded magnitudes of 6.0 or above. According
to Yahoo Japan Earthquake Information, over 50 small/medium-sized earthquakes
were recorded from September 19, 2007 to October 1, 2007.
Every year on September 1, each public sector and school holds earthquake drills. This day is to remember the Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1, 1923 with a magnitude of 7.9. The Great Kanto Earthquake killed 105,000 people, fully destroyed over 109,000 houses, partially destroyed 102,000 houses, and burnt 212,000 houses (Wikipedia Japan). The Kanto area is located in the east side of Japan, and Tokyo (Japan’s capital) is also in the Kanto area. The fire damage spread quickly because the earthquake happened at 11:58 am, which was in the middle of lunch time for most of houses, businesses, and schools. On top of the lunch cooking fire, there was a typhoon approaching the Kanto Area, which helped the fire to spread out radically. It is said that 80% of the people died from this earthquake was killed in fire. The Great Kanto Earthquake left some important issues to think about: strength of buildings and fire disaster preparation. Although Great Kanto Earthquake is a past history for a lot of people, 1995 South Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake, also known as Kobe Earthquake or Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, is still new to people’s memories, including myself. The Hanshin area is a middle-west part of Japan. Kobe and Osaka are located in the Hanshin area, and are the biggest cities of Japan after Tokyo. 1995 South Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake took place on January 17, 1994 with a magnitude of 7.3 (Wikipedia Japan). 6,434 people were killed, and 43,792 people were injured. 250,000 houses were fully or partially destroyed, and 6,148 houses were burned (Wikipedia Japan). It is found that most of the destroyed houses were built before 1981, which means that these buildings did not meet the 1986 standards of architect at that time. In another words, buildings built after 1981 mostly survived in the earthquake. The standards of architect have been revised after the earthquake every four years. Some of the problems in the earthquake were the delays of government’s actions. The Prime Minister Toichi Murakami and his cabinets relayed on information from media, rather than sending specialists on their own. Also, it took four hours for the Hyogo District to formally request relief party while some of the private institution started their rescue operations within three hours after the earthquake. This earthquake gave a great lesson to the government that they must to react quickly. Although Japan is used to have earthquakes, it is important that people and the government prepare for possible earthquake disasters. Earthquake researchers often say that it is possible to have an earthquake in Tokyo area that is as big as the Great Kanto Earthquake or the Kobe Earthquake in the near future. According to Nikkei News Paper on October 1, 2007, the government started earthquake prediction media services. It is never too much to prepare for earthquakes with a hope to decrease damages from big earthquakes. |