Friday, December 14, 2012

Earthquake in Japan, Technology Savior

Honshu, Japan -


An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 happened 150 miles away from Japans Northeast coast last Friday. As of right now, there is no death related and nearly no structural damage reported by the 7.3 quake or its 4.7 after shock. This is incredible in terms of environmental hazards and mitigation. The event did happen some distance off in the ocean as opposed to in the heart of a city, which was a reason why this large scale earthquake caused little chaos. Japan it seems has nearly perfected their warning systems and mitigation efforts. People in the area affected by the quake had nearly 6 minutes to take action and precautions before the quake hit. Advanced warning systems play a large role in preventive measures, but so too does the technology employed on buildings.  Because of Japans cleverly designed buildings, they were able to withstand the prolong shaking that would topple many houses in less developed countries. This is a good example for showing the different affect hazards have on more developed countries compared to less developed ones. The earthquake that claimed a still undetermined amount of deaths in Haiti registered as a 7.0, smaller than the one that hit Japan. The main difference between the two outcomes was the construction of the houses. While the more advanced and developed Japanese society was able build structures that could withstand the tremors associated with quakes, the Haitians were stuck with much less.

 

Another interesting part of this article was the mention of the perceived tone of fear used by the Japanese news reporters. People are still frightful of another event like Fukushima so any mention of a potential tsunami in this case it was less than 3 feet, causes people to head for the mountains. This puts more responsibility on the government when issuing warnings, needing to take into consideration the potential reaction from the public. As we have seen in other environmental hazards around the world, looting and crime are an issue. Therefore issuing a warning, even if the waves are only to reach 5 feet,  is a concern.




Source: http://z6mag.com/featured/earthquake-in-japan-hours-after-2012-fukushima-aftershock-1616538.html

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