Updated: June 15, 2020 7:31:50 pm The key to saving lives and minimising the damage from earthquakes lies not in prediction but in preparation. They are well signposted (sometimes even in English) so they are easy to find if you are in an unfamiliar area. Japan is perched on top of several converging tectonic plates. Japan has also been the site of some of the 10 worst natural disasters of the 21st century. I was just waking up from a rather peculiar dream about the color yellow when the shaking started. It’s a marvel of Japanese engineering that skyscrapers stay standing during an earthquake. Some 6,400 people were killed and more than 400,000 injured; fires blazed across the city. From earthquakes and tsunamis to typhoons and nuclear bombs and meltdowns, the media portrays Japan as a place always on the brink of chaos. Japan is a developed Asian country, parallel to South Korea and China, which are now economic giants. 170,000 houses were without electricity for a few hours, and 108,000 homes had their electricity and gas temporarily cut. Founded in 1952, the Tsunami Warning Service is operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). 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In most towns and cities, loudspeaker systems can broadcast emergency information to residents. Earthquakes are a fact of life in Japan. In some rural areas, residents also have radios distributed by the local government over which instructions to evacuate can be broadcast. It was my first earthquake. Smaller houses are built on flexible foundations that can absorb movement in 6 directions and diminish the effects of the quake. Many countries in the ring of fire strive to protect their citizens from earthquakes, but Japan does it exceptionally well. Seventy-two years later, another powerful 7.3 magnitude quake hit the port city of Kobe in western Japan. Britain, China, and the need for an ethical foreign policy. Some Japanese have tsunami stones to thank for the safety of their homes and lives: in Aneyoshi, a tsunami stone states, “ high dwellings ensure the peace and happiness of our descendants.” See Figure 2. Japan is a country with frequent earthquake s due to its location on the Pacific Rim of Fire. .css-1xgx53b-Link{font-family:ReithSans,Helvetica,Arial,freesans,sans-serif;font-weight:700;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;color:#FFFFFF;}.css-1xgx53b-Link:hover,.css-1xgx53b-Link:focus{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}Read about our approach to external linking. China’s Surveillance State Pushed to the Limits in Virus Fight, The extradition bill is yet another result of Beijing’s political encroachment, Libyan artist raising awareness on gender-based violence: “You can change the world!”. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. Gas, electricity and water lines turn off automatically when triggered, preventing fires, floods, and explosions. Elevators automatically shut down and have to be checked before they operate again. Tremors both small and large can be felt throughout the country year-round. Who does not know products from Japan, electronic devices from television, sound systems, to automotive, Japanese products are known for their quality … Japan sits at the intersection of several tectonic plates, along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Japan has over 100 active volcanoes, more than almost any other country and accounts alone for about 10 % of all active volcanoes in the world. © 2021 BBC. In Japan, the shindo scale is commonly used to measure earthquakes by seismic intensity instead of magnitude. Most of the Los Angeles metropolitan area can expect a minimum of 1 to 2 damaging shocks per century; some neighboring areas can expect 3 or more. Using this system, JMA aims to send out a tsunami warning within three minutes of an earthquake striking. In the wake of the Kobe earthquake, new regulations for quake-proofing buildings came into force, and some local governments offer citizens a structural health check on their homes. 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