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Learning from Megadisasters

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Learning from Megadisasters

Lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake

World Bank,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

What happens when the disaster is worse than you imagined?

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Japan seems a disciplined, precise and sophisticated nation, prepared for any natural emergency. But the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 – which claimed 20,000 lives and destroyed 130,000 homes and a nuclear plant – proved a disaster whose scope defied diligent preparedness. The World Bank provides a thorough analysis of what went right and wrong during and after the disaster. The report offers many intriguing details and anecdotes, including women’s concerns about lack of privacy in evacuation shelters and the tale of an intrepid group of schoolchildren who escaped to safety. The writing can be stiff, and a few observations are a bit too obvious – such as the suggestion that a community should rebuild its most critical infrastructure first. But the overall picture is specific, staggering and useful for risk managers everywhere. getAbstract recommends this thorough overview to managers in both the public and private sectors charged with responding to disasters, and to anyone who might want to prepare.

Summary

Tragic Loss of Life

The March 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan, known as the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, measured a magnitude of 9.0, flooded 500 square kilometers of land and left 20,000 people dead or missing. It displaced nearly half a million people and destroyed some 130,000 homes. The calamity damaged roads, ports, airports and a nuclear plant; in the aftermath, 140,000 to 160,000 jobs disappeared.

This human and economic disaster defied Japan’s history of meticulous preparation. After devastating earthquakes in 1923 in Kanto and in 1995 in Kobe, Japan imposed strict building codes, built tsunami-blocking obstacles and sought to educate the public. Much can be learned from considering which of these preparations worked and which didn’t. Japan’s extensive system of dikes, dams and breakwaters mitigated the damage but didn’t completely prevent it. One inescapable lesson: Structural measures alone don’t provide sufficient protection, but they do form an important first line of defense.

“Multifunctional Infrastructure”

Emergency managers learned that stringent, well-enforced building codes could help keep people and property...

About the Authors

Federica Ranghieri is senior urban specialist at The World Bank, where Mikio Ishiwatari is senior disaster risk management specialist. Experts from The World Bank and Japanese universities wrote individual chapters.

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