JAPAN: Tokyo turns to California "ShakeOut" quake drills ahead of the one-year memorial of March 11 earthquake and tsunami

Record ID: 466122

  • Title: JAPAN: Tokyo turns to California "ShakeOut" quake drills ahead of the one-year memorial of March 11 earthquake and tsunami
  • Date: 10th March 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 9, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EMPLOYEES IN TOKYO'S CHIYODA WARD DISASTER CONTROL CENTER MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR DISASTER DRILL EMPLOYEES IN DISASTER CONTROL CENTER WORKING VARIOUS OF SECURITY MONITOR IN DISASTER CONTROL CENTER CHIYODA WARD OFFICE EMPLOYEES GETTING UNDER DESKS DURING DISASTER DRILL VARIOUS OF CHIYODA WARD OFFICE EMPLOYEES CROUCHING UNDER DESKS REPRESENTATIVES OF CALIFORNIA "SHAKEOUT" DEMONSTRATING DRILL MORE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF CALIFORNIA "SHAKEOUT" CROUCHING UNDER DESK DURING DRILL (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER AND ORGANISER OF CALIFORNIA SHAKEOUT EARTHQUAKE DRILL, MARK BENTHIEN SAYING: "What we've done in California and elsewhere is have a good way of tracking who's participating and more of a campaign, a fun, simple and easy way to communicate with quake preparedness, and not be an exercise which has more government aspects to it. And certainly Japan has had many earthquake drills for many years and they're looking at this as something new or something that maybe can capture the public attention in a new way. BADGE READING: "CALIFORNIA'S ANNUAL EARTHQUAKE DRILL SHAKEOUT" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER AND ORGANISER OF CALIFORNIA SHAKEOUT EARTHQUAKE DRILL, MARK BENTHIEN SAYING: "For the last five years there's been a research project program, called the Tokyo Metropolitan earthquake project that brought together many universities and researchers to study what types of earthquakes might happen in Japan It involved earthquake scientists, engineers and social scientists. And the social scientists have been observing what's been happening in the United States and the way that we've taken science and applied through the use of public drills and the shake-outs. So, they've adopted the ShakeOut model from California and brought it here to Tokyo." PEOPLE LOOKING AT MAP NEAR YOTSUYA STATION IN TOKYO SIGN READING IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE: "CHIYODA CITY EMERGENCY GUIDE BOARD" PEOPLE WAITING TO CROSS THE ROAD AT INTERSECTION (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE ENTREPRENEUR, YUKIHIRIO SATO SAYING: "In terms of disaster prevention awareness, if we don't get it together in a more orderly manner it's not going to mean anything in the end." VARIOUS OF VOLUNTEERS PASSING OUT FLIERS WITH MAPS OF EVACUATION ROUTES
  • Embargoed: 25th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVAEASQBDY892LC36GM8541THEAG
  • Story Text: Tokyo's earthquake preparations got an American twist on Friday (March 9), after officials in the city's Chiyoda Ward organised a day of drills in schools, stations and public offices in the style of Calfornia's simultaneous quake simulations.
    Official drills have long been a feature at public locations across the Japanese capital.
    However, Mark Benthien, an organiser for Calfornia's quake simulations, or "ShakeOuts", said they often fail to take account of workplaces and homes.
    The U.S. method, he says, encourages millions of people across the state to simultaneously "drop, cover and hold on", and provides a more popular way to get the message out.
    "What we've done in California and elsewhere is have a good way of tracking who's participating and more of a campaign, a fun, simple and easy way to communicate with quake preparedness, and not be an exercise which has more government aspects to it. And certainly Japan has had many earthquake drills for many years and they're looking at this as something new or something that maybe can capture the public attention in a new way," Benthien said.
    The yearly Californian drills kicked off in 2008, and have now spread to five other U.S. states and territories. Organisers say more than 9.5 million people took part in the drills in 2011.
    Now, Benthien says Japanese officials are looking to copy the method after last year's massive quake caused widespread chaos across Tokyo.
    "For the last five years there's been a research project program, called the Tokyo Metropolitan Earthquake Project that brought together many universities and researchers to study what types of earthquakes might happen in Japan. It involved earthquake scientists, engineers and social scientists. And the social scientists have been observing what's been happening in the United States and the way that we've taken science and applied through the use of public drills and the shake-outs. So, they've adopted the ShakeOut model from California and brought it here to Tokyo," Benthien told Reuters.
    25,441 people took part in Friday's drills, officials said, a 2005 census lists the total daily population of Chiyoda Ward at 853,382.
    Japanese media reported seven people were killed in nation's capital on March 11, 2011 - mainly due to collapsing ceilings. Many residents vividly remember that day and the chaos which followed.
    "In terms of disaster prevention awareness, if we don't get it together in a more orderly manner it's not going to mean anything in the end," one local Yukihirio Sato said as volunteers distributed maps showing safe evacuation routes in case of another major earthquake.
    The number of casualties in Tokyo was however dwarfed by the almost 20,000 people dead or missing through out the Tohoku region in the ensuing tsunami triggered by the earthquake.
    On Sunday (March 11) Japan will commemorate what it officially calls the "Great East Japan Disaster" with memorials throughout the nation.
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