Tohoku 2011 was the biggest earthquake that ever happened in Japan. It brings many lessons about how does Japan mitigate tsunamis all this time because the death toll was nearly 16,000. It was a huge number with significant damage that forced the Japanese government to overview their efforts.
The government reviewed some factors, such as seawalls, evacuation systems, early warning systems, awareness, and zone evaluation. Disaster management also changed significantly to avoid more risks in the future. How do they improve these factors?
Summary of How Does Japan Mitigate Tsunamis?
Revising the Tsunami Warning System
Japan relies on a tsunami warning system established long before the Tohoku incidents. However, the death toll was high enough for them to revise the system. They needed a better, faster, and more accurate device to deliver the warning, so they chose a new SMS broadcasting device.
Monitoring networks has become better with this device. After a tsunami is detected by the sensor, the SMS broadcaster could send a message of warning to the masses. It also improves the awareness of people who might not be aware of the upcoming incidents in the future.
Upgrading Seawalls
Japan has some seawalls as an effort of how does Japan mitigate tsunamis. The seawalls could protect the area from 6-meter waves. However, the height of the Tohoku tsunamis was more than that. Some places had 40-meter height and the seawalls had their limit to work for it.
After that, the new and higher seawalls in Japan have been built. The most vulnerable areas in Japan have this priority, so they can be safer in the future. The quality of the seawall improves than previous one to protect the area better once another great tsunami hits the coastline.
New Models of Tsunami Zone
Since the Tohoku incident proved that the effect could be greater than expected, Japan re-evaluated the zones that have big risks in the future. New models and mapping estimate the areas with high potential according to the height of the tsunami. The higher tsunami may reach farther areas, not only the coastline.
With a major tsunami, the areas that previously were not in the zone of high risk could be leveled up. The government would force the owner of the building to improve the infrastructure. Building a new one is stricter now to avoid huge damage after tsunamis.
Reorganizing Disaster Management
Disaster management is also part of how does Japan mitigate tsunamis. The government has roles to manage and organize the system after the Tohoku incident in 2011. The government could not work alone. They need collaborative action with different agencies and many levels of authority.
Strengthening the management system will help the information to spread faster to the locals. In a large-scale incident, it may be able to save more lives because the collaboration works better than the previous system. The focus also goes to the post-recovery to improve some efforts.
Improving Technology
So far, Japan has the most advanced technology for tsunami early warning systems. They can detect better because of the deep-sea sensors. It can give more time for people to evacuate, once a tsunami is detected. The monitoring is in real-time which makes the duration of critical time longer.
The simulation of greater tsunamis is also done by using a supercomputer that they designed. They also model different types of waves and heights to see different effects of the tsunami. The aim is to find better strategies and plans to respond to this disaster better in the future.
Raising Awareness
The main task of the government is raising awareness for people who live on the coastline. The communities who stay in this area should have a higher understanding of the risk of tsunamis. The purpose is to get them to understand to always follow the guidelines for infrastructure and evacuation.
This campaign is not only for the communities but also for the government and students at school. After the Tohoku earthquake, this educational campaign became massive to make them understand the procedure of evacuation and the signs of the tsunami that appear in nature.
After reading about how does Japan mitigate tsunamis above, it is important for the government in every country with this risk to have proper mitigation like Japan. The solution to spread awareness and warning messages is using an SMS broadcaster device that does not rely on signal. Find out more about the device here.
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