Emergency Management summary - Case Study Example

There are many disaster management agencies all over the world. Examples include government based emergency management agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States of America and non-governmental organizations include UN Agencies and the Red Cross. This paper focuses on the Great East Japan Earthquake and the emergency management process following its occurrence. This earthquake, also referred to as the Great Tohoku Earthquake, occurred in the Northeastern part of Japan off the coast of Honshu and led to a myriad of losses in property and life.

Japan is one of the most calamity prone countries accounting for about 20.5% of global earthquakes measuring a magnitude of 6 and above. This arises from several contributing factors that make the country’s topographic, geographic and climatic conditions unfavorable. Japan sits on the intersection of three continental plates; the Eurasian, Pacific and the Philippine Sea plates. The stress resulting from the collision and subsequent grinding of these plates against each other leads to the buildup of significant seismic pressure that in turn contributes to seismic and volcanic activity.

As a result of this, Japan contributes to about 7% of the world’s volcanic activity in addition to the numerous earthquakes that occur. In addition to this, the country often experiences adverse meteorological conditions in the form of typhoons that cause extreme storms, high tides and flooding (Nazarov, 2011). In the 1940s, Japan adopted various emergency management legislations that governed the preparation, mitigation, response and recovery phases of disaster management processes. The Flood Control Act of 1949 regulates river and flood management while the Disaster Relief Act of 1947 dictates the provision of essential disaster relief by emergency management stakeholders. The