precautions

• Earthquake prediction - Japan has spent over £70 million trying to predict earthquakes before they happen. They use lasers to measure possible earth movements. The scientists thought they could predict the location of the next Japanese quake but believed that Tohoku was not in the danger zone.
• National Disaster Prevention Day - every year on 1 September (the anniversary of the Great Kanto earthquake, 1923) the Japanese government holds earthquake and tsunami drills to make sure that the emergency and rescue services are ready for any disaster
• Earthquake-proof buildings


  • Japan spends billions of pounds on buildings that are designed to be resistant to the effects of earthquakes. Buildings built since 1981 often use a range of techniques which make them more flexible and less affected by liquefaction: for example shock absorbers, flexible steel frames and deep foundations.
• Japan has the world's most advanced earthquake early warning system
• The earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 were the most powerful ever recorded in Japan, and the resulting nuclear disaster at Fukushima was the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.
• The earthquake and tsunami caused widespread damage and destruction, with over 15,000 people killed and over 2,500 people missing.
• The earthquake and tsunami also caused severe damage to infrastructure, with roads, railways, ports and airports all affected.
• The earthquake and tsunami led to the evacuation of over 470,000 people, with many having to live in temporary shelters for months.
• The earthquake and tsunami also caused a major nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with three reactors suffering meltdowns and the release of radioactive material.
• Aid organisations in Japan and worldwide responded to the disaster. The Japanese Red Cross reported over $1 billion in donations (many from overseas). They also distributed over 30,000 emergency relief kits and 14,000 sleeping kits in the evacuation centres in Iwate, Miyagi, Kukushima, Yamagata and Akita.
• As people moved to temporary and pre-fabricated buildings, they had no basic equipment to resume everyday life and official requests were that the Japanese Red Cross would provide household appliance packages to the displaced. They have provided 1 10,000 packages (each containing a washing machine, refrigerator, TV, rice cooker, microwave oven and hot water dispenser.
• Google provided a special crisis response team which provided key information for people who were caught up in the disaster and allowed people to use a person finder service to help them find displaced friends and relatives.