Japan invested to protect its people
◆ A century of preparation helps Japan cope with an earthquake – Turkey and Syria could use this help
As the world celebrated the start of a new year, Japan was left reeling after an earthquake devastated a picturesque coastal community and sparked a major tsunami warning.
Images show properties on the northern tip of Ishikawa’s Noto peninsula literally uprooted and cars crushed like tin cans. At least 84 people have been killed and around 50 more are missing, while thousands more have had to leave their homes.
Yet, while undoubtedly devastating, the impact of the disaster is in stark contrast to the aftermath of a similar-sized earthquake that rocked southern Turkey and north-west Syria almost a year ago.
More than 55,000 people died in that quake – which was just marginally stronger than the recent one in Japan at 7.8 magnitude against Japan’s 7.6 – and tens of thousands of people remain displaced. Eleven months on, humanitarian organisations are still dealing with the fall-out.
Both regions are susceptible to regular earthquakes. Yet the difference in the outcome of the two disasters is, essentially, due to wealth, which allows for long-term planning and the financial resources to earthquakeproof buildings.
Japan’s quake came almost exactly 100 years after huge swathes of Tokyo were flattened and more than 140,000 people killed in the Great Kanto Quake
– a disaster that shaped the future of the country’s earthquake response.
It prompted a major revolution in building regulations: new buildings were required to be reinforced with steel and concrete, while wooden buildings had to have thicker beams – and regulations have been updated after every major seismic event.
Now, around 87 per cent of the buildings in Tokyo are believed to be able to withstand strong earthquakes. By contrast, many of the buildings in Syria and Turkey – especially those in Turkey constructed before 2000 – were vulnerable to “pancaking”, where multistorey buildings collapse.
A smartphone warning system alerts Japanese citizens to potential seismic activity, allowing people in affected areas to evacuate.
Those in Syria and Turkey should also be able to benefit from modern engineering to save lives.