What the 2011 Japan Tsunami Can Teach Us
I still remember it well – all hell broke loose in March 2011 when the largest earthquake Japan has ever seen (magnitude 9.0) created an equally massive tsunami that leveled the country and compromised the Fukushima nuclear plant. The disaster killed thousands of people and caused millions of dollars in damage.
It was obviously a terrible situation, and one that everyone on this planet must learn from. We’ll never prevent these types of disasters, but there are things that can be done to reduce the impact.
Lessons Learned from the Tsunami
If this topic piques your interest, check out this detailed academic paper examining the impact and lessons learned from the Tsunami from Pure and Applied Geophysics. Here’s an abbreviated list of the key lessons from this devastating disaster.
- Special attention should be paid to shoring up seawalls by fortifying their foundations and increasing the strength of their interlocking teeth to avoid splitting. The paper recommends exploring new, more stable designs as well.
- The control forests were ineffective in reducing the onslaught, as trees ripped out of the ground and became floating debris. Going forward, the trees comprising these forests should somehow be planted deeper, and should only be viewed as a secondary measure after seawalls.
- Technology should be deployed to improve the ability to calculate tsunami velocity, which can aid the planning of evacuations.
- Certain at-risk roads should be elevated to provide another secondary barrier.
- More high-ground shelter facilities would have been helpful.
- Land development activity should be restricted in tsunami-prone areas.
- More education about these types of disasters, as well as ways to prepare for such an emergency, should be provided.
As you can see, there are many lessons that can be garnered from the 2011 tsunami disaster, which will hopefully minimize the impact of such events in the future. As the saying goes, you can’t always predict, but you can always prepare.
