Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SHAKE AND BLOW
Japan tsunami gives lessons on disaster management
by Staff Writers
Sendai, Japan (AFP) Oct 9, 2012


The experiences of survivors of the massive quake and tsunami that smashed into Japan last year were being mined Tuesday at an international meeting on disaster management.

Pre-emptive measures to reduce damage and save lives when natural disaster strikes were top of the agenda at the two-day conference, part of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Organisers picked Sendai because it is the capital of a region that lost nearly 19,000 people when the massive waves of March 2011 rolled ashore, crushing whole communities.

"I hope to share with people in the world our country's experiences from the disaster," Japan's reconstruction minister Tatsuo Hirano told delegates.

He said even a country as well-prepared as Japan could not disaster-proof itself.

"There is no such word as 'absolute' in disaster prevention terms," Hirano said, noting a tsunami warning system that had worked well for years focusing on speed rather than accuracy had failed.

"The tsunami warning predicted the height of the tsunami as three metres, but the actual tsunami measured nearly 20 metres in some places, easily overcoming defences," he said.

"We have to learn how to react to situations beyond our expectations."

Hirano said disaster-evacuation planning had largely been carried out by men, which meant "many women faced difficulties living in emergency shelters because there had been little input from women".

Sendai mayor Emiko Okuyama told the conference urban areas had proved unexpectedly vulnerable.

She said the greater-than-expected concentration of people in cities -- tourists and commuters unable to return home -- had also strained the system.

World Bank vice president and treasurer Madelyn Antoncic said "some countries are reluctant" to spend on preventative measures, but insisted it was worth the money.

On Wednesday, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde and World Bank president Jim Yong Kim will visit disaster-hit areas before wrapping up the conference.

The Sendai talks are expected to feed into the communique to be issued on Saturday at the meeting of the Development Committee, the highest Fund and Bank joint decision-making body, said Kazushige Taniguchi, the World Bank's special representative to Japan, before the meeting.

Last week Japan and the World Bank released a joint study aimed at sharing experiences from last year, when a 9.0-magnitude quake and resulting tsunami crushed the coast and triggered the worst nuclear crisis in a generation.

But many of the recommendations the report makes are ongoing challenges for Japan, where 329,000 people are still living in temporary homes nearly 19 months later.

On the ground in Sendai, one woman who lost a relative and her house in the tsunami said she could understand why Japan was hosting a conference on reconstruction, but normality still seemed a long way off.

"I feel like our community is far from being reconstructed," said the 58-year-old, who did not want to give her name for fear of angering local officials.

"The support measures (the authorities) offer are too little, so we constantly worry about our future," the woman told AFP.

The government has announced plans to build new houses in upland areas and to offer cash handouts to partially finance housing loans.

The disaster left 18,684 people dead or missing and sparked reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant on the coast.

.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SHAKE AND BLOW
S. America's Pacific coast eyes tsunami warning system
Lima (AFP) Sept 25, 2012
Officials from countries along South America's Pacific coast met at a UNESCO-sponsored event in Peru's capital Tuesday to design a tsunami early-warning system. Experts from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile - all countries sitting on the seismically active Pacific ring of fire - included oceanographers, seismologists, and natural disaster response officials. They are ironing out a pro ... read more


SHAKE AND BLOW
China has no timetable for manned moon landing

Senior scientist discusses China's lunar orbiter challenges

NASA sees 'gateway' for space missions

Protection for Moon, Mars astronauts eyed

SHAKE AND BLOW
Mars rover finds 'bright object'

NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Prepares to Study Martian Soil

Ice-clad beauty on the 'Silver Island' of Mars

The Hunt for Clay Minerals Continues

SHAKE AND BLOW
Austrian eyes record jump from edge of space in US

Austrian's edge-of-space jump aborted due to winds

Deep Impact Spacecraft Completes Rocket Burn

Virgin Galactic Acquires Full Ownership of The Spaceship Company

SHAKE AND BLOW
Meeting of heads of ESA and China Manned Space Agency

China Spacesat gets 18-million-USD gov't support

Tiangong Orbit Change Signals Likely Date for Shenzhou 10

China Focus: Timeline for China's space research revealed

SHAKE AND BLOW
NASA and International Partners Approve Year Long ISS Stay

Year on ISS planned ahead of manned Mars mission

NASA Celebrates Milestone Liftoff

45th Space Wing Supports First SpaceX Launch for NASA's Commercial Resupply Services

SHAKE AND BLOW
SpaceX On Course For Crew Resupply Cargo Delivery To Space Station

SpaceX craft on way to ISS in first supply run

Orbital Begins Antares Rocket Operations at Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

H-IIB Launch Service Privatization

SHAKE AND BLOW
Comet crystals found in a nearby planetary system

The Magnetic Wakes of Pulsar Planets

Stagnant Interiors Suppress Chances of Life on Super-Earths

Meteors Might Add Methane to Exoplanet Atmospheres

SHAKE AND BLOW
'Dishonored' game a whorl of cunning and combat

US politics goes mobile, phones become tool: study

Immersive game showcases new Internet Explorer

Strathclyde takes the lead in space research




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement