28
Locations of severe train track damage
9,161
Useful Resources
Stopped elevators
Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Disaster Prevention Information www.bousai.metro.tokyo.jp/english/index.html
Number of buildings destroyed by liquefaction
13,356
US Embassy’s Disaster Preparedness Checklist http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7111.html
Casualties
167,831
Teachers at Tamagawa International Preschool encountered similar problems with contacting parents. “After the earthquake, we decided Dead to use the 117 web service, Twitter and Facebook as our communication tools with Injured family members,” says Mee Saito, director of the preschool in Setagaya Ward. Naturally, the ability of buildings to withstand the shockwaves that cause the ground to tremble is of primary concern for authorities. Amendments to Japan’s Building Standard Law in 1981 established a new code for building design and construction. The importance of this legislation was brought home during the Kobe earthquake in 1995. “Almost all buildings that met this new seismic code suffered only slight or no damage at Homeless all,” Matsumoto says. For those people looking to buy a home in Tokyo, Matsumoto advises making a thorough check of the property’s foundations. And following incidents of liquefaction—when the extreme shaking of the ground turns the soil into a watery mass—in parts of the city near Tokyo Bay in March, residents are encouraged to consult the Tokyo government’s liquefaction hazard map. in or around In the case of high-rise apartment buildings, Japan, but Matsumoto recommends choosing a place with it didn’t go quake-resistant mechanisms. “Seek buildings up enough to with cutting-edge seismic-damping structural justify any special technologies or seismic-isolation technologies,” he precautions,” he says. says. “Seismic dampers absorb seismic energy, As for the reducing building sway.” government, he says that Yet despite the government’s extensive officials should focus less on preparation measures, the Tohoku earthquake and quake prediction and more on tsunami severely shook the public’s trust in official “common-sense precautions,” such bodies. In a recent Associated Press poll, more than as clearly identifying chains of command in 80 percent of respondents said they did not believe the self-defense forces and emergency services that the government was adequately prepared to and ensuring the quake-preparedness of critical help them in the event of a major catastrophe. facilities like nuclear power plants. Roughly three-quarters of the respondents also “As far as peace of mind [goes], if you’re prepared, reported feeling less safe since March 11. then you’ve done the best you can,” Geller says. But Geller says that there is no cause for “That’s all you can do.” o unnecessary worry. “The probability is somewhat higher than normal of another big quake somewhere Publicover is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist.
Comprehensive Living Guide for Foreign Residents in Japan www.tokyo-icc.jp/guide_eng/index.html
4,530
163,301
2,872,413
30 November 2011 iNTOUCH