Japan’s preparedness stemmed quake damage

Although recent news has focused on the tragedies in Japan, Environmental Science professor Stephen Phipps believes Japan’s technological responses to both the earthquake and tsunami have minimized their gravity.

“Overall, as horrible as it is, my impression is that things worked pretty well, and that’s a tribute to the systems they’ve put in place,” he said.

Historically, Japan has always been tsunami aware, according to Environmental Science professor Benjamin Horton. From inventing the word to earning a place among “the most earthquake and tsunami aware” countries, Japan has consistently invested in earthquake and tsunami preparation, Horton said.

Technology in place at the Tokyo’s Tsunami Warning Center is designed to measure the seismic waves caused by earthquakes. From this data, scientists can calculate the location and magnitude of the earthquake. A special tsunami-modeling program can then use this information to predict if a tsunami will result and the areas that could be affected.

Although scientists “cannot predict earthquakes the way we can forecast weather,” systems such as those used to model the recent tsunami can predict the probability of such occurrences, Phipps said.

Similarly, based on the building codes, scientists can also predict what buildings might fail. Aftershocks can also be predicted based on statistics, Phipps explained, which can give people a chance to prepare.

“It’s one thing to have technology,” Horton said, “but education is the most important.” Both Horton and Phipps agreed that Japan’s tsunami education and preparedness have made a difference.

Earthquakes with similar magnitudes in similar areas, such as the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, had dramatically larger projected casualties. “Japan is probably the world leader in earthquake [education] and preparedness,” Phipps said.

In the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, residents were reported to be intrigued by the pull-back of the waters that indicate an impending tsunami, Horton said. Since they did not understand what was happening, they investigated instead of evacuating.

However, “the Japanese knew exactly what was happening,” Horton said.

Since Japan has evacuation routes in place and regular tsunami drills, Horton believes that the preparation and systems appear to have functioned as well as could be expected.

But technology is still being used to help. Student organizations at Penn — such as the Japanese Students Association — are using internet donation sites that are specifically designed to give aid to those affected, such as the American Red Cross.

“I think Facebook is really helpful in having a centralized place for all the information,” said Vice-President of JSA Reina Moriyama. Moriyama understands that some people “aren’t as aware of what’s going on,” and Facebook presents a way to get the news to the Penn bubble. Internet sites are working to compensate for the loss of cell-phone communication, according to Lyle Fujikawa, a 1990 College alumnus who is currently in Tokyo.

And JSA’s efforts are already raising awareness. The number of “people accessing the website has increased a lot in the last week,” Moriyama said.

Some cell-phone carriers have started providing specific online modes of communication, such as e-mail, while a Disaster Message Board web page allows anyone to find the status of a person using their cell-phone number.

Facebook groups have been invented, such as the Japan Quake Survival Strategies page which provides a live discussion feed in an open group. It encourages people to offer advice for preparation and backup plans.

Google has created a “Person Finder” website that posts individuals’ statuses, which can include “unspecified,” “someone is seeking information about this person” and “someone has received information that this person is alive.” The site currently provides information about over 200,000 individuals and allows people to both share and find information regarding loved ones.

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