All language subtitles for Japanology Plus 2016-02-11 - Earthquake Preparedness

[Music]

from volcanic eruptions to torrential

rain Japan is one of the world's most

disaster-prone countries earthquakes too

are surprisingly frequent throughout

history Japan has suffered many major

quakes of magnitude seven or greater to

ensure people can protect themselves and

their communities in earthquakes drills

are organized by the government and

private sector this time on Javan ology

plus our theme is earthquake

preparedness we'll look at some of the

highly advanced techniques used in Japan

to minimize the loss of life and damage

in an earthquake

[Music]

hello and welcome to Japan ology plus

I'm Peter Barca if you live in a country

that doesn't have any earthquakes you

may be astounded to know that Japan

experiences over a thousand earthquakes

a year and that's not counting the ones

that are so small you don't even notice

them

Japan sits on top of the so-called Ring

of Fire which is an area of heightened

volcanic activity around the Pacific

Ocean and as a result it's one of the

most earthquake-prone countries in the

world because of that it also spends

more time and energy on being prepared

for earthquakes than any other country

there are evacuation drills held

regularly by community groups local

authorities even private companies we're

going to start off today with a look at

earthquake preparedness in Tokyo's

central business district over here the

area of Tokyo centered on automata is a

major business district at the hub of

the Japanese economy it is home to the

offices of 4,000 or so leading Japanese

companies at about 230,000 workers

how do those who work here keep

themselves ready for an earthquake

[Music]

Malou watanabe is a journalist who

covers disaster preparedness and risk

management for more than 30 years

Watanabe has been reporting from the

scenes of disaster in Japan and around

the world

he also advises national and local

governments on disaster planning we're

going to be talking about earthquake

preparedness what makes this area in

particular a good place to start the

office buildings in this district in

particular set the standard for disaster

preparedness preparedness varies by

location different areas of the city

have different approaches to disaster

preparedness this area has an especially

large number of high-rises and hundreds

of thousands of people work here if you

get a really big earthquake are they

really going to be safe there is almost

no possibility that any of these

buildings would collapse even in a very

large earthquake considering how massive

these buildings are the standards for

constructing them are correspondingly

rigorous they have to be in fact they

are probably the strictest building

standards in the world such large

buildings are very heavy and in order to

support that weight they have extremely

deep foundations

and in the event of an earthquake

advances in technology allow more recent

high-rises to sway with the shaking of

the earthquake rather than try to just

resists rigidly by enabling sway and by

dispersing the shock these construction

techniques minimize damage to the

building

in March 2011 northeast Japan was hit by

a magnitude 9.0 earthquake the largest

in Japan's recorded history even though

the epicenter was 350 kilometers away

from Tokyo high-rise buildings there

swayed as the ground shook even if a

high-rise building resists collapse they

can still be danger to its occupants

this property management firm has put in

place a model program for occupant

safety you see that it's bolted to the

wall the furniture is bolted down so it

can't fall over because furniture shifts

in a quake you can imagine what would

happen if this toppled over on someone

they could be hurt or even killed in

1995 Western Japan was struck by the

Great Hanshin earthquake this magnitude

7.3 quake claimed 6430 4 lives hundreds

of people were killed or injured by

Fernet

in over

taking lessons from this tragedy there

was a push to secure furniture in homes

and offices against future earthquakes

[Music]

at this national research facility a

full-sized building has been erected on

a shake table to test the effectiveness

of securing furniture in a major

earthquake

here is what happens with unsecured

furniture

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

and here furniture is thoroughly secured

[Music]

it's clear that building occupants can

be kept a much safer by securing

furniture this property management

company with a model occupant safety

program distributes key disaster

supplies to all its staff can you please

show us what you do what you have sure

here's my safety helmet Oh does

everybody have one of these yes the

company distributes helmets fitted with

lights to everyone I provided my own

goggles as I thought they'd be useful to

protect my eyes from dust and debris

while evacuating so in the event of an

earthquake

what's your drill what you have to do in

an earthquake the first priority is to

avoid injury getting injured will

prevent you from doing anything else so

I'll duck under my desk and put my

helmet on to protect my head okay not a

lot of space under there

no but if there are any falling objects

under the desk is the safest place to be

we've all been taught that since

childhood along with her helmet

Morishima has a supply kit that she put

together herself here's my medical kit

for emergencies oh there's a whistle to

call for help and a torch well you're

really well-prepared and do you have

this under your desk the whole time yes

after the big 2011 earthquake I became

more conscious that a serious earthquake

could strike at any time

so I started keeping these supplies

right under my desk being prepared at

all time so that I can act calmly in an

earthquake is important for protecting

my own life

and it's also important for protecting

the lives of those around me it's great

that she has disaster supplies at the

ready within easy reach having them off

in a locker somewhere makes no sense you

don't have time to go and fetch them so

you should keep them close by large

buildings like this are made ready for

various people not just those who work

there a real estate firm that owns many

office buildings and commercial

facilities in the area showed us their

supplies in this storage facility we

keep emergency supplies these supplies

of the distribution to people who might

happen to be shopping here when a big

earthquake strikes the company keeps the

supply of food such as nutrition bars

and bottled water for the use of any

members of the public stranded in an

earthquake in fact when the 2011

earthquake struck most of the public

transit in the Tokyo metropolitan area

was shut down that left some people with

no way to get home unless they walked

for hours as a result a lot of people

had to stay overnight wherever they were

in total 5.15 million people were

stranded

this company's thorough preparedness

enabled them to shelter many of the

stranded people on the floors of the

buildings they managed

in fact we put this to use in the 2011

earthquake on that occasion we

accommodated about 3,000 stranded people

in the modern Aceh district alone so

you've got provisions here for how many

people roughly this storage facility is

designed to supply about 1000 people

providing a minimum of 6 meals per

person with a certain margin of surplus

basically enough to support 1,000 people

here for 3 days along with food we set

aside other important supplies for

example these aluminium coated pads the

flaws of commercial buildings are quite

cold

so these pads can be laid out on the

floor like this and stranded people can

sit or sleep on top of them so that's

how it's used on the floor alternatively

it can be wrapped around the shoulders

like a cape to retain body heat this

will keep you warm and keep yourself

warm yes that's exactly the point

as we construct new buildings

we're always increasing the amount of

emergency supplies

[Music]

from volcanic eruptions to torrential

rain Japan is one of the world's most

disaster-prone countries earthquakes too

are surprisingly freon throughout

history Japan has suffered many major

quakes of magnitude 7 or greater to

ensure people can protect themselves and

their communities in earthquakes drills

are organized by the government and

private sector this time on Japanese

plus our theme is earthquake

preparedness we'll look at some of the

highly advanced techniques used in Japan

to minimize the loss of life and damage

in an earthquake

[Music]

hello and welcome to Japan ology

plus-sign peterborough camp

if you live in a country that doesn't

have any earthquakes you may be

astounded to know that Japan experiences

over a thousand earthquakes a year and

that's not counting the ones that are so

small you don't even notice them

Japan sits on top of the so-called

Ring of Fire which is an area of

heightened volcanic activity around the

Pacific Ocean and as a result it's one

of the most earthquake-prone countries

in the world because of that it also

spends more time and energy on being

prepared for earthquakes than any other

country there are evacuation drills held

regularly by community groups local

authorities even private companies we're

going to start off today with a look at

earthquake preparedness in Tokyo's

central business district over here the

area of Tokyo centered on automata is a

major business district at the hub of

the Japanese economy it is home to the

offices of 4,000 or so leading Japanese

companies and about 230,000 workers

how do those who work here keep

themselves ready for an earthquake

[Music]

Malou watanabe is a journalist who

covers disaster preparedness and risk

management for more than 30 years

Watanabe has been reporting from the

scenes of disaster in Japan and around

the world

he also advises national and local

governments on disaster planning big

earthquake readiness drills are a part

of life in Japan Tokyo's Ginza district

is usually full of shoppers here the

Main Street is closed to vehicle traffic

once a year for a large-scale disaster

drill the event is organized by local

residents and businesses and draws about

5000 participants the scenario is a

major quake of magnitude 7 or more

with the cooperation of local fire and

police authorities rescue crews

demonstrate evacuations from buildings

local residents practiced transporting

injured people for decades evacuation

drills have been held in primary and

junior high schools around Japan in

recent years many schools have worked to

make their drills more realistic at this

primary school children are not told in

advance when a drill will be held when

they hear the warning sounds they must

act immediately

[Applause]

[Music]

in the event of an earthquake protecting

your head takes first priority through

repeated snap drills children develop an

immediate reflex to protect their heads

when a quake strikes lessons learned

from major earthquakes are being put to

use in drills across Japan to save lives

whenever the next quake strikes I am

that off now in Japan earthquake

preparedness isn't just something for

big organizations or neighborhoods it's

something to be done on the personal for

the household level as well to that end

if you go to places like hardware stores

or home centers you can often find a

huge array of products that are designed

to help you make your way through a

disaster situation for example here's

some dry shampoo that you can use if the

water supply has ever turned off doesn't

need water you can just massage it into

your hair there's equipment like this

this is designed to attach the top of

cupboards or bookshelves and prevent

them from falling over in case of a big

shake but one of the key things to

making your way through a disaster is

what's known as an emergency bag these

bags are designed to hold all sorts of

gear equipment and items to help you

when you need to leave your house for

whatever reason in the course of a

disaster

but there's so much stuff out there what

exactly should you put into your

emergency bag that's what we have come

here to find out today from an advisor

who is an expert on that very topic

today I'm here with mr. Tom Illya

Haqqani who is a disaster management

advisor well this certainly looks like a

lot of useful stuff but what what are

the rules for packing a bag like this

this is an emergency bag so you need to

be able to run while carrying it it's

important that it does not feel like

it's weighing you down when you carry it

there are four essentials the bag needs

to be packed with the first thing is

gear to protect yourself from physical

harm like a torch and glove

and a waterproof top in case you

evacuate in the rain yes this is a

really good idea how about these masks

yes they're good to have the trouble

with a torch like this is that it takes

up one of your hands so a light that you

wear on your head is even better right I

see these in camping stores and things

like that away

these items should be placed in an outer

pocket where you can access them

immediately when you have to get away in

a hurry the second essential is a day

supply of food and water if you put all

this in the bag we'll get too heavy so

just one day's worth is plenty okay so

what is one day's worth of liquid for

example the benchmark is three liters

per person per day but for an emergency

bag one and a half to two liters should

suffice well this looks like a 1.5 liter

bottle how about this for ease of

drinking straight from the bottles

I recommend smaller ones good point okay

that's one liters worth and one more as

for that it's quite convenient to have

your water and nutrition all in one so

for the last portion of water I

recommend choosing nutritional gels

instead interesting so this is kind of

like a sports beverage I guess well

let's put in three of those gel packs

yes two three okay next the food when

you're tired your body needs energy so

you shouldn't be trying for low calorie

foods or anything you need something

that can be eaten with no cooking or

prep required so this is no time for a

diet that's what you're saying biscuits

and chocolate and other foods you can

eat directly with no implements needed

our best

the third essential is first aid

sanitation and hygiene supplies that

would include wound care treatments and

bandages a change of underwear and a

town another hygiene issue is the toilet

for that there are bags like this it

contains a powder that will solidify

feces or urine having one or two of

these in your pack is advisable the last

essential is information on where to go

a radio and map

what is this map this shows what areas

in your neighborhood could be dangerous

and also evacuation spots we call it a

hazard map this is really useful and

definitely the if you haven't radio I'm

assuming you're going to need batteries

as well absolutely

that completes the four essentials and

pagani also carries photographs of his

family you could become separated from

family members in evacuation centers

photos are handy to have when looking

for them include a photo of yourself

with your contact information that helps

others identify you if you are injured

and unconscious other important

information includes your blood type in

case you need a transfusion that's the

final essential for a proper emergency

bag try slinging it on your shoulder mat

okay time to gear up here Oh oh this

feels good this feels of a good weight

[Music]

do you think you could run with that on

Oh indefinitely this is I could easily

run with this when they not go - waiver

the total weight of the supplies in the

bag is about four kilograms under five

is the target for adults you know I had

known the kind of big picture of needing

to be prepared but seeing all the little

details really helps me build up picture

in my head of what to do well there you

have it I hope you never have to use the

tips and techniques that we learned here

today but just in case it helps to be

prepared see you next time

[Music]

now for a visit to a municipal run

disaster preparedness education center

the center has facilities that allow

visitors to experience simulated

earthquakes they can practice using fire

extinguishers and experience simulated

rainstorms there are more than 70 such

facilities around Japan offering

immersive experiences to heighten

disaster awareness my impression is that

Japanese people have a relatively high

level of awareness but the need to be

prepared for earthquakes and other

disasters but from talking to you today

I get the impression that you think that

there's still room for improvement after

the earthquake on March the 11th 2011

there was a sudden surge in disaster

preparedness awareness among people in

Japan but the survey showed that just

two years later the situation had

changed 70 percent of people had become

less conscious of disaster preparedness

having people actually experience the

effects of an earthquake in a facility

like this is the most effective way to

heighten public awareness and then to

sustain that awareness and that's why

such facilities are built this simulator

can recreate massive quakes Japan has

experienced in the past

Peter will be experiencing a magnitude

7.3 quake one with intense vertical

shaking due to the epicenter being

directly below now you'll be trying out

this earthquake simulator I'm not going

to give you any advance warnings I just

want you to experience it and think of

ways to protect yourself

[Music]

[Music]

okay

okay it's actually it wasn't as bad as I

thought it was going to be yes it still

it's scary you don't know what's gonna

happen so you kind of stiffen up I don't

know if I should have been underneath

the table perhaps that would have been

better but I don't think I really had

enough presence of mind to really think

about that I just grabbed on to

something so that you know so as you say

you didn't manage to get under the table

and that is the most important thing you

should have done you've got to protect

your head ah that's essential you need

to get in the habit of ducking under a

table even when you feel slight shaking

when a big quake hits directly below you

can lose your composure and that's what

just happened to you I think for people

watching this program from outside Japan

I think if it's that dangerous why would

you want to live in this country and

sometimes I thought that myself but you

know you've made your choice you're

going to live in a country and you that

you then have to do whatever it takes

and as you've said there's absolutely no

room for complacency on the other hand I

suppose you have to go on living your

life and enjoying your life you can't be

you know wandering around thinking

when's the next earthquake gonna happen

every day you know every waking minute

of your day but on the other hand I

suppose the idea has to be there

somewhere so when you get on the train

or when you're driving your car always

this has to be just a little bit of

awareness of it could happen today with

earthquake preparedness it's not enough

to be sort of prepared you need to know

exactly what to do to protect yourself

in each situation and it shouldn't be

just disaster experts like myself

teaching everyone should give real

thought to what is needed in order to be

ready to get through an actual

earthquake

that really helps them to be prepared

you don't have to carry a three-day

supply of food with you wherever you go

but if a quake does strike while you are

on your commute what is the absolute

minimum of things you should have on

your person at all times everyone should

come up with their own answer and try it

out very much next time on Jaffa Knology

plus wrapping and packaging from rice

balls to wine bottles Japanese products

showcase the ultimate in aesthetic

appeal and ingenious skills