Surveillance and Disaster Management: Lessons from Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

This article discusses the lessons learned from the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, which caused major destruction to property and lives. The article emphasizes the importance of investing in the information space and adaptive leadership to manage such crises. It also highlights the need for advancements in the field of earthquake models and forecasting.

14 October 2018
Surveillance and
disaster
management
Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

Japan was hit by earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, which is regarded as
one of the largest earthquakes in the history. The magnitude of the undersea earthquake was
9.0–9.1 (Mw) (Zaré & Afrouz, 2012). The earthquake is also regarded as Great East Japan
Earthquake, because of the location of the epicentre of the earthquake at Tōhoku. The
earthquake caused a major destruction to the property and lives of the people in Japan,
involving severe injuries and deaths. The damages to the property were in the form of the
structural damages to the roads and railways, a dam collapse and even leading to the outbreak
of fires. In addition, a large number of homes were devoid of electricity and the water.
Another significant damage by the Tsunami were the nuclear accidents in the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex because of the meltdown, which involved explosions
in the nuclear reactors.
Some of the main lessons to be learned from the above disaster are as follows. The
World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2012 have accorded the same. Firstly, the leaders and
the scientists must invest in the information space. The nuclear accident could have been
avoided if the authorities made the communication instantly. However, the first warning that
was issued just after 8 seconds of the first wave through the television stations and the phone
led to the security of bullet trains and elevators, by stopping them (Suppasri, Hasegawa,
Makinoshima, Imamura, Latcharote & Day, 2016). An adaptive leadership is necessary to
manage such crisis. An example of the same was the convenience store chain Lawson
resuming the more than half of the operations within four days of the incident for the supply
of vital goods and basic necessities. One of the section of the scientists were not expecting
the magnitude of the earthquake to be this much, as per the evaluation of the past records.
The lesson to be learned here is that 400- 500 year old historical records do not prove an aid
and therefore advancements must be made in the field of earthquake models and forecasting
(Suppasri, et. al, 2016).

References
Suppasri, A., Latcharote, P., Bricker, J. D., Leelawat, N., Hayashi, A., Yamashita, K.,
Makinoshima, F. Roeber, V., & Imamura, F. (2016). Improvement of tsunami
countermeasures based on lessons from The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and
Tsunami—situation after five years. Coastal Engineering Journal, 58(04), 1-30.
Suppasri, A., Hasegawa, N., Makinoshima, F., Imamura, F., Latcharote, P., & Day, S. (2016).
An analysis of fatality ratios and the factors that affected human fatalities in the 2011
Great East Japan tsunami. Frontiers in Built Environment, 2, 32.
Zaré, M., & Afrouz, S. G. (2012). Crisis management of Tohoku; Japan earthquake and
tsunami, 11 March 2011. Iranian journal of public health, 41(6), 12.