Prepared for the Big One

YOKOHAMA – It’s the “Golden Week” holiday period in Japan, from April 29 to May 5. Yesterday, the eve of Constitution Memorial Day, I ran into uniformed grade school children spending the sunny holiday in this port city on a field trip – not to a theme park or museum, but to a disaster preparedness center.

The Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center is run by Yokohama’s Fire Prevention Bureau, so a mini fire truck welcomes visitors at the main entrance. The truck is just large enough to fit two kids in front, but it’s not a toy.

While the city wants to make disaster preparedness fun, Japan has always taken seriously the threat posed by natural disasters. Like the Philippines, Japan is frequently devastated by torrential typhoons that spawn killer landslides and floods. And like the Philippines, Japan also sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire, which means frequent earthquakes.

Japan is possibly the most prepared country for such natural catastrophes. Still, the Japanese decided to further ramp up preparedness after the apocalyptic Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, which triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The triple whammy left 19,335 people dead and 2,600 missing, and turned villages into virtual ghost towns.

You remember the horrific scenes from the Magnitude 9 quake and tsunami that we thought we’d see only in Godzilla movies. The memories are indelible for the Japanese. Even in Yokohama where the quake was felt only at Intensity 5 and left just two fatalities, the quake created sinkholes, caused liquefaction that made the ground rise up to two meters, damaged houses, stranded thousands and knocked out power in many areas.

Following the earthquake, a guide at the center said Yokohama decided that its disaster preparedness had to be “drastically revised.”

*      *      *

The city has predicted the magnitude of damage at different hours, days and seasons, taking into consideration rush hours and work schedules. Damage to water and gas supplies, drainage, phones and electricity are also calculated, with corresponding mitigation responses. The projection is that a Magnitude 8 earthquake in the city could leave 3,260 people dead, more than half from fires, so homes and buildings are being designed to be fire-resilient.

There are signs in four languages (Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean) all over the city, in both public areas and private facilities, about what to do and where to seek help in case of a strong earthquake and tsunami. There are contingency plans in place even for assisting people trying to get home by walking in damaged streets. About 8,600 street posts display sea levels using reflective material. There are evacuation information boards, and a smart phone app to help people search for missing persons.

Yokohama has a soil liquefaction map. With the city having many landfills, massive liquefaction is expected. Reclaimed areas are also expected to be inundated with floods up to 4.9 meters or 16 feet high.

We all know where seismologists have also warned residents to prepare for the Big One, with vast tracts of vulnerable reclaimed areas and landfills. Yokohama is aware; the director of the disaster center said yesterday that they have a partnership for preparedness with a place in only one other country: the Philippines.

*      *      *

A few years ago the Japan International Cooperation Agency conducted a study on the preparedness of Metro Manila for the Big One from the Marikina Fault (renamed the West and East Valley Faults). The study concluded, in so many words, that if the Big One finally struck, the response in the National Capital Region and neighboring areas would be as calamitous as the disaster itself.

Not even Japan was prepared for the Tohoku Earthquake. But we can take pointers from Japanese preparedness and mitigation efforts.

Disaster resilience is factored into construction in this country. At the Kawai Purification Plant, one of three that supplies clean water to the city, visiting journalists were told yesterday that the facility was built to withstand earthquakes up to Magnitude 7. 

The Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center was renovated at a cost of millions of dollars. The center has simulators to make visitors feel earthquakes up to Magnitude 8, with video of the possible destruction in the streets, at home and in high-rises.

Apart from collapsing buildings, we saw fires breaking out and spreading uncontrolled; part of the tour includes learning how to use a fire extinguisher. One room simulated a house hit by a landslide after torrential rains, with a fire also breaking out – a concern in Yokohama, which is 70 percent hilly area.

People are also warned about the risks of sinkholes, flooding in the subway as well as liquefaction, which I’ve just learned not only makes the ground sink but also rise. 

Disaster preparedness also covers aftershocks and tackles ways of dealing with so-called tertiary damage: unemployment, disruption of supplies and basic services, and the need for temporary shelters.

*      *      *

It’s scary stuff, but lessons on preparedness and mitigation measures – the principal objective of the center – impart a reassuring message.

Last year, 120,000 people visited the center – up from the annual average of 40,000 before the renovation. The center now gets about 400 visitors daily. Even if a visit to the center is not compulsory for school children, 50 of the city’s 340 public schools sent their students to the center in 2016. Parents also visit with their children.

 There are similar centers in the capital Tokyo, two in Kanagawa Prefecture plus smaller facilities across the country.

Yokohama officials remind people that a disaster can cripple even the government, so residents are encouraged to learn how to protect themselves. Guidelines have been drawn up on individual preparedness, including the installation of “earthquake breakers” at home, having portable toilets, and keeping stocks of food and drinks good for at least three days.

There are “group disaster drills” for earthquakes, floods and fires, and for assisting the elderly and people with disabilities.

No one can ever be fully prepared for the Big One, but a high level of preparedness can minimize damage. And people can increase their chances of survival.