Japan has experienced enough natural disasters to prepare properly. When you take the number of natural disasters, plus population density and compare it to the fatality rate, the numbers are pretty low. The ability to innovate, invest, educate and learn from the past has made Japan the most earthquake-prone state.
Earthquake resistant buildings
Considering how often earthquakes occur in Japan, all buildings have some protection from shaking. Houses in Japan are built according to a strict law-based building code. The laws also apply to state schools and buildings. It is said that 87% of buildings in Tokyo pass without earthquakes.
Some structures are built to be flexible in the case of oscillations and some are built with Teflon, which allows them to move along with oscillations. Other buildings are made with fluid or fluid rubber bases that absorb vibrations. Tokyo's famous Skytree tower imitates the shape of pagoda temples that have survived centuries.
Phone updates
Every cellphone in Japan has an alarm system for tsunamis and earthquakes. The alert is given five to ten seconds before the disaster and enables citizens to quickly protect themselves. The system says ?You were desu! They were desu! ?(Meaning? there is an earthquake ?) until they stop shaking.
Trains prepared
Japan is dominated by the shinkansen (bullet trains) trains and network that are the transportation of the future. To ensure passenger life, trains are equipped with mechanisms that detect oscillations from the first seconds and immediately stop moving. In 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the country. There were 27 shinkans in motion. They each stopped before the earthquake, signaled by the small vibrations that preceded them. There were no injured or dead.
Instant TV coverage
When an earthquake strikes, all of Japan's television channels broadcast news coverage to inform citizens. Coverage speaks of earthquakes, where residents are protected and there is tsunami in the ocean.
Disaster prevention education and awareness
From an early age, Japanese children are trained at school to behave in the event of an earthquake. If inside, they are instructed to go under the tables and hold their feet with their hands until the shakes are over. If outdoors, they are taught to be placed in the center of an open space so as not to be hit by rubble.
Firefighters also place children in earthquake simulators so they can recognize them in toddlers when it comes to shaking.
Earthquake Memorial Museum
Japan protects the population from future earthquakes by learning about past earthquakes. In 1995, the city of Kobe was hit by an earthquake that killed five thousand people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. After rebuilding the city, Kobe built the memorial museum.
In addition to recalling lost lives, the museum also serves as an educational center for disaster prevention and survival.
Box to survive an earthquake
Every home is prepared in the worst case. Many buy ready-made kits that contain first aid, water, food rations, gloves, face masks, thin mattresses, radios and torches. They can be purchased at stores like Don Quixote or Tokyu Hands.
Water Discharge Tunnel
On the outskirts of Tokyo, there is the Water Discharge Tunnel, lying beneath a soccer field and a skateboard park. This tunnel collects excess water from cyclones or tsunamis and flows into the Edo River. If the area is hit by an earthquake and the earthquake causes a tsunami, the city will not be flooded. It took 13 years to build it and cost $ 3 billion.
Source: Culture Trip
