Japan

Question 1

Tropical Storms: Frequency

Answer 1

8-9 typhoons annually

The western edge of the Northwest Pacific Basin location - most active ocean basin globally

Question 2

Tropical Storms: Widespread

Answer 2

Southwest-to-northeast orientation at mid-latitudes puts its coastline roughly parallel to a fairly typical path for typhoons

Question 3

Tropical Storms: Exacerbation

Answer 3

Mountainous and so water continuously flows downhill into streams and filling rivers

Question 4

Tropical Storm Etau 2009: Nature of Hazard

Answer 4

Location: western Japan
Deadly - deadliest in Japan since Typhoon Tokage in 2004
67 mph (108 km/hr or 58 knots) winds

Question 5

Tropical Storm Etau 2009: Social Risks

Answer 5

Killed 28 (14 people killed via flooding)
Evacuated: 47,000
House Damage: 5,500 flooded, 180 destroyed, 53,000 left without running water, 18 missing due to landslides
Transport cancellation worsened capability to escape

Question 6

Tropical Storm Etau 2009: Economic Risks

Answer 6

Damage cost: US$87.5 million

Question 7

Tropical Storm Etau 2009: Environmental Risks

Answer 7

Levees and embankments breached, flooding (worst: 1.5m deep), mudslides (particularly in Hyōgo Prefecture)

Question 8

Tropical Storm Etau 2009: Response / Relief

Answer 8

140,000 evacuated, 800 in public shelters
6 flights cancelled post lightning struck plane
15 railway services due to heavy rainfall
Highways partially closed
300 troops deployed to Sayo after Japan’s Govt request

Question 9

Tropical Storm Etau 2009: Response / Recovery / Rehabilitation

Answer 9

600 Japanese soldiers were deployed from Tokyo

Question 10

Tropical Storm Etau 2009: Mitigation / Preparation / (future) Pre-Disaster

Answer 10

Post-disaster office set up by Prime minister’s office crisis management centre
Reassessment of built dams, embankments, super levees and Cisterns - last built 1959
Full force rebuilding initiative launched
2010: AIR Typhoon Model - estimates probability + severity of flooding, the extent of the damage
50% of Japan’s total population continues to live on the low lying plains post deadly 2004 Typhoon Tokage
Strong sense of community + support

Question 11

Seismic / Volcanic Activity: Margin

Answer 11

Three crustal plates meet near to coastal Japan, near Kobe
Denser oceanic Philippines Plate subducts beneath the lighter continental Eurasian Plate at ~10 cm/year → Philippine plate melts and molten magma rises → Japanese island arc formation
Japan is located east edge of the Pacific Plate

Question 12

Seismic / Volcanic Activity: Frequent
Plate collision and destructive margin causes great amounts of friction → frequent seismic activity
Volcanoes alone unpredictable

Answer 12

Earthquake: Preparation
Earthquake drills (practice evacuations) are carried out each year
Buildings designed to withstand strong tremor
Earthquake survival kits + earthquake familiarity

Question 13

Risk

Answer 13

(high) Vulnerability x (high) freq or mag of Hazard / (high) capacity to Cope
Wealthiness allows great investment, reducing risk for Japan

Question 14

TSUNAMI TOHOKU 2011: Nature of Hazard

Answer 14

Location: Sendai, (north-East) Coast Japan

9 earthquakes + 10m high tsunami

Question 15

TSUNAMI TOHOKU 2011: Social Impact

Answer 15

30,000 - mostly from tsunami
55,000 houses, 1.5 million without water, 4 million without power, 310 hospitals
580 roads, major airports (only several runways at Haneda Airport reopened soon after), all Tokyo area trains halted, Shinkansen bullet train service suspended
100,000 evacuated within 20-km Fukushima plant zone

Question 16

TSUNAMI TOHOKU 2011: Economic Impact

Answer 16

Cost: $235 billion (earthquake alone $20 billion)
Infrastructure damage
Radiation leaks from the nuclear power station at Fukushima
Intermittent power due to uncertainty about the radiation
Industries reduced production due to limited power supplies
300,000 buildings destroyed, 1 million damaged

Question 17

TSUNAMI TOHOKU 2011: Environmental Impact

Answer 17

24–25 million tons of rubble + debris, ~5 million tons offshore, 70% sank + 1.5 million tons left floating in the Pacific Ocean
Radioactivity disaster rated level 7, the same as Chernobyl, by the IAEA

Question 18

TSUNAMI TOHOKU 2011: Preparation

Answer 18

Earthquake Early Warning system (over 1,000 seismometers in Japan) sent out warnings of impending strong shaking to millions → one minute later the earthquake was felt in Tokyo
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) believed to have saved many lives
JMA issued tsunami warning 3 minutes after the earthquake - extended to to at least 50 nations and territories, as far away as South America.
Insurance purchases
Trained to break into collapsed buildings, extinguish fires
Residents keep emergencies
Evacuation zones created - preparation / adaptation / management
Japan was largely prepared for the earthquake but not for the subsequent Tsunami

Question 19

TSUNAMI TOHOKU 2011: Response / Relief

Answer 19

The Japanese government mobilized the Self-Defence Forces (100,000 soldiers)
Foreign aid e.g establish order, organise rescue work and distribute blankets, bottled water, food
Japanese + worldwide aid organizations raised $1 billion in donations (Japanese Red Cross)
Evacuation, but inadequate facilities lead to hypothermia
The USA and China offered aid
The UK sent 63 search and rescue specialists, two rescue dogs and a medical support team

Question 20

TSUNAMI TOHOKU 2011: Recovery / Reconstruction / Mitigation / Preparation

Answer 20

Equity markets rebound relatively quick + reconstruction efforts kick into gear
Economic situation should have improved 3rd/4th quarters of 2011 as reconstruction efforts financed from emergency government spending boost growth. Based on developments following the 1995 Hanshin quake in Japan, higher government spending could easily add around 1% to GDP growth over the next year or so - recovery (based on strength of nations economy and ease of absorbing the impacts of the earthquake / tsunami)
The government set up an advisory body called the Reconstruction Design Council. Special zones for reconstruction were designated with relaxed planning regulations and tax incentives to promote new investment and rapid rebuilding - recovery / reconstruction

Question 21

Mitigation / Preparation / (future) Pre-Disaster

Answer 21

Greater focus on historic data
Building improvements
Engineers design buildings that will not collapse, preventing blockages and injuries
Engineers improve buildings against tsunamis: for example building on stilts, seismic proof materials (bamboo)
Geotechnical engineers investigate soils types to prevent proposed building work on unstable slopes & liquefaction prone zones
2013: upgraded tsunami warning system
Fukushima nuclear plant exclusion zone

Question 22

Cause of Tsunami

Answer 22

Shallow earthquake focus in the ocean with a high magnitude (6 or more)