The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster - Research Paper Example

College: The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Japan is a tourist destination famous for its attractive scenery, sporting activities and modern ski resorts. However, recently the country has been known for bad reasons. This is as a result of the natural disasters that have hit the country in the recent past. Such disasters range from Tsunamis, earthquakes to snow falls. Though Japanese media has remained strikingly calm in its reporting of such events, overseas media outlets have in most instances taken the centre stage in producing reports that have generally stoked up fear and panic for both locals and foreigners living in Japan. Families are worried about the safety of their loved ones, something that has led to some leaving the country temporarily at request of their family members (Nanto 1). The disasters have also been a cause of real alarm for tourists resulting in drastic falls in the number of snowboarders and skiers. Many ski resorts have closed down while hotels have experienced many cancellations, something that has seen many visitors disappear and families become affected adversely. This paper talks about a current event related to families that has occurred in Japan and how the event has affected and continue to affect families. It also provides my own views on what would have happened if the same occurrence happened in the United States. The event of my choice is the “Great East Japan Earthquake” which occurred in Japan on Friday afternoon of 11th March 2011. I chose this issue because it is an event that changed lives of many people in the affected areas and beyond. It also influenced the economy of Japan as a tourist destination. My choice is also influenced by my desire to give clear and balanced information on the subject because different overseas media had provided sensationalized reports that were full of factual errors that sparked a lot of fear in the aftermath of the event. I am not drawn to this issue so as to sell vacations to Japan but rather to explain the experiences of people in the affected areas since the event was one of the most devastating and most expensive in the world history. In addition, I chose Japan because as a prominent tourist destination, the country severely suffered great economic losses especially in the aftermath of the earthquake and Tsunami. Many families in Japan lost their loved ones, property and up to date some depend on aid for satisfaction of their material needs. Friday, 11th March 2011 was a normal afternoon for most Japanese residents; but this particular afternoon remains a mark of recollection. It is an afternoon that changed many lives. A massive earthquake (about 9.0 magnitudes (MW)) hit Japan at 2:46pm near the city of Sendai in the Prefecture of Miyagi. The earthquake’s epicenter was approximately 70 kilometers east of Oshika Peninsular of Tohoku (Nanto 1). Almost all regions throughout Japan experienced the seismic intensity of the initial earthquake to some degree. However, it was felt strongly in most regions of Tohoku and in the northern part of Honshu Island and less in west Japan and on the northern island of Hokkaido. Ultimately, there was only little damage caused on infrastructure including the ski resorts even in areas worst hit by the earthquake. But this event led to closure of a number of ski resorts in the northern Japan in a bid to cut down electricity expenses and check facilities. However, the earthquake triggered very powerful Tsunami waves that caused loss of life, injuries and destruction of property. In Miyako, the waves reached a height of 40.5 meters while in Sendai area, the waves travelled up to 10 kilometers. The Tsunami waves are said to have tilted the earth on its axis to approximately 10 cm to 25 cm. The Japanese National Police Agency authenticated that 15, 850 people had died, 6,011 injured while 3,287 others were missing. Over 125,000 buildings were destroyed (Nanto 2). Extensive structural damage also occurred ranging from damage of roads and railway to fires to collapsing of dams. Nuclear accidents were also witnessed after the meltdowns of three reactors in a power plant complex in the Fukushima Daiichi. Hundreds of thousands of residents in zones around the nuclear power complex were evacuated. It is estimated that around 4.4 million households were left without electricity while about 1.5 million others were left without water. Many people in Japan were never in the mood of going out either to spend money or to enjoy themselves. Others lost jobs and businesses. In fact, the disaster affected about 311,934 employees and 86,418 businesses that were mostly located in the prefectures including Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate. According to Nanto (4), losses due to earthquake alone are estimated to be around US$14.5 to $34. 6 billion while losses due to both the earthquake and the Tsunami are estimated to around US$235 billion This is a season in Japan that saw many hotels make several cancellations due to the drastic drop in the number of visitors who are mostly attracted to sporting activities such as and snowboarding. If this event happened in the United States, the scenario would not have been different either. This is because, this is a natural disaster and given the magnitude of the earthquake it would also have triggered a powerful Tsunami waves in the ocean that would have had similar devastating impacts felt in Japan. Similarly, just like Japan, the US has nuclear plants would have led to many nuclear accidents since the nuclear reactors could have melted down. Families would be affected in the same way they were affected in Japan. There would have been losses in households, electricity and businesses as a result of the destruction in the buildings and structural damages in property that would similarly range from damage of roads, railway to fires. However, given the fact that Japan is the best disaster-prepared country in the world, it is probable that the US would have found it almost a hard task handling such a situation during the aftermath. This is true because the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) spent several months of international expert mission in Japan especially at the post-disaster zone after the event while visiting facilities involved in waste management and debris recycling so as to share the expertise and exchange experiences with people engaged in the clean-up efforts. Japan has made extraordinary cleanup efforts in the last eleven months through use of advanced technologies and remarkable decisions of handling debris (Nanto 5). The main goal of UNEP was to come up with an international network of specialists in disaster-debris management who would have the knowledge and experience that can be made accessible to any country dealing with a major catastrophe. It is evident from this discussion that the Friday 11th March 2011 earthquake and Tsunami was the most devastating event in the world history. Many families were affected. For instance, people lost their households which exposed them to humiliation in the cold for several days and several places run out of electricity for several months. Fires as a result of electricity interferences and nuclear reactions especially from the nuclear plants resulted in destruction of property, loss of lives and scores of injuries. Many people went missing and even up to date their family members have never found them. Infrastructure including roads and railways were also destroyed, something that derailed rescue efforts and hence led to loss of more lives. In order to effectively manage disasters and reduce their impact on the human population, mitigation efforts are paramount. Countries should embrace the provision of regulations such as evacuation and the imposition of sanctions against those opposed to regulations. Governments should also communicate the risks associated with disasters to the public and thus encourage insurance cover to protect them from their financial investments. Disaster preparedness and response are also important in reducing the impact of calamity events on people. Works Cited Nanto, Dick. Japan’s 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami: Economic Effects and Implications for the United States. Collingdale: DIANE Publishing, 2011. Print. Read More