Japan holds first national quake drill since tsunami
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- Business Teaching Positions - Part-time - Kanto Region
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37 Comments
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-6
Disillusioned
The utter chaos in Tokyo after the March 11 quake shows just how inadequate these drills are
2
gogogo
This information would have been good yesterday to know this was happening.
-1
Asagao
"disaster prevention day"? Disaster prevention would mean not building houses on the coast, not exposing children to radiation and not building nuclear reactors on active fault lines. Did they really stop all that today?
1
ExportExpert
It's hard to prevent a disaster but you can minimise the effects, this day should be call "disaster preparednes day" not disaster prevention day.
I refreshed my disaster kit, ie emergnecy rations, water and a few other essentials today and will be updating other items over the next few days too.
2
BlueWitch
Disaster prevention Day?? LOL They come up with the most silly stuff....jeez
Well, I'm gonna go to the hospital to deliver this baby now.. I hope to come back soon! Take care everyone! (^_^)
-1
globalwatcher
If you are on medications, then these people should know the name of medication and daily dosage. This is one of the problem when I was in Japan for the mission. They have NO idea what they were taking. Pathetic!
-2
some14some
legitimate wastage of money...whereas, people are suffering in tohoku region.
-3
Oracle
They blocked off the roads and stuff in Tokyo and inconvenienced commuters who may have had important things to do. And suprise! There was a traffic jam!
Bunch of ijits. The result of shutting down traffic signals and blocking roads in Tokyo is predictable enough and not a thing could be done about it in a disaster without putting in obvious infrastructure of which there is no money nor space to do.
2
Sandra Caraan
wow I've been a member for only a few days and all I've seen so far is negative comments on every article I've read...
1
Dale Berry
I agree with Sandra. People on this forum love to bully any and everything. I don't think any other country I have been to could remain so calm and collected after one of the largest quakes in recorded history. I couldn't even imagine the real chaos and lawlessness that would follow a quake like this in England. The drill is an amazing idea because it puts this real risk in people's minds and prepares them for if the worst really does happen.
I work in a kindergarten and we have the responsibility for almost 300 children. Do you really think it's a bad idea to have all the preparation you need? You might only have to think about yourself escaping from your office building in one piece but when I have to carry 32 children up five floors of a neighbouring building in under 5 minutes whilst fitting life jackets I would like a practice run first thank you.
Classic cases of people only thinking about how these things apply to them.
2
Apsara
I walked 25km to get home on March 11 and I didn't see any of the utter chaos you are referring to. The trains were stopped, yes. I'm happy that they carry out safety checks even if I was severely inconvenienced. Generally after gathering outside their buildings for a while people started to walk calmly and purposefully in the direction of home- no screaming, no looting. I even saw pizza guys making deliveries in the evening.
Sure there was a traffic jam, gridlock even, how could there not be with the number of cars that are in the centre every day? Any ideas on how that could be prevented? I still don't think it came even close to "utter chaos".
I agree with the above two posters, a lot of the regular commenters here take any and every opportunity to bash anything that ever happens here. How about some more constructive comments for a change, people? It's getting really old reading basically the same comments by the same people day after day, so much so that I've mostly stopped reading them because I know exactly what I will see in the comments section.
1
It"S ME
How was the chaos in Tokyo on 3/11 worse than the situation in New York on 9/11.
I think the above posters hasn't experienced either.
2
ExportExpert
Dale Berry
You must be very strong then, maybe you should go to the olympics if you can carry 32 children up 5 flights of stairs in 5 miuntes.
0
some14some
welcome, you will get used to readers' comments and find them 'positive' and for the good of Japan :)
1
Nicky Washida
Ive known it was coming up for weeks as the elementary school and kindergarten have been bombarding us with letters including the latest telling us no bicycles, pushchairs, umbrellas, wear sneakers and go straight home no playing in the park - yeah, right!
But to be honest, I DIDNT know it was commemorating the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, that was interesting to know. I also think that, having been through the real thing and seen how far removed it actually is from the drills we do every year, it is still a good thing to focus everyones minds on the issue of what we would do when a disaster strikes.
We had to take the phone call in the chain and then call the next person. Then walk to the school, where the kids were lined up in their fire hoods (very cute actually, like hundreds of little dwarves!), show our ID to the teacher at the head of our line (which were labelled wih handy billboards with the year and class number), say the words "I am xxx classes xxxxx mother, my name is xxxx" - show them the emergency card we keep at home, the teacher compares it to her copy, and releases the child.
When it all actually happened for real the phone system didnt work, everybody cycled to school to get there as quickly as possible, everyone was wearing whatever they had on their feet, no-one went home to get their school ID and emergency card first, no-one was lined up in the school yard, and I never saw a teacher until I ran fully-shoed in the middle of an aftershock into my daughters classroom, located her under a table with 10 other kids, grabbed her by the hand and calling a greeting out to the teacher who nodded and smiled, dragged her out of there!
I understand where Dale is coming from. Some people have to take responsibility not only for themselves but for a lot of other people, and it helps to have a dry run. Even though I understand that the practice is pretty far removed from the reality, I really dont think it is a bad thing to run through it once a year, if only to identify the bits that wont work, and to remember what has happened in the past.
2
Nicky Washida
To be fair Sandra, you have said yourself that you are a Japanophile but you have never actually lived here. A lot of people who have lived here a long time get pretty fed up with some of the things that go on here. I am not one of them, but I DO see where they are coming from and I also have days like that. The Japan you imagine and the real thing are not the same.
3
Alex80
This.
0
BernieK
Mt. Fuji is overdue for an eruption. Why don't they do an earthquake drill from volcanic eruption?
BTW Drills? Here in Tohoku you must be ready on every step you take.
-2
DentShop
Well, Japanese teachers still teach their kids to run across the road when the man turns blue instead of safely walking - do you think earthquake prevention will help? Now RUN!!
-1
valley-of-the-shadows
LOL, come to Japan and try your luck with constructive criticism and see how far you get. Nobody is bitter here, they are simply damn right outraged and with good reason.
1
cleo
Still? Since when? No one ever taught my kids to run across the road.
0
Asagao
@sandra. With leaders like Aso, Kan and now The Dojyo, children being encouraged to go to school next to out of control leaking nuclear power stations and adults being pursuaded to eat contaminated foods, of course a lot of people might want to say their piece in a positive manner. The venture today was a great idea, but should of taken place on Sunday and been a more widespread and inclusive rehearsal. @Dale berry. I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that schools practises this at least once a month, some twice a month.
2
John Becker
It's nice that there are disaster preparedness drills for the citizens and emergency personnel. Maybe they should start having them also for the government and for TEPCO.
1
oginome
Don't knock the earthquake drills, people. And for people talking about chaos... Japan was a model of civility and calm after the cataclysm that shook their country earlier this year. The qualities displayed by the Japanese won them so many admirers around the world.
-1
Columhcille
These kids are all going to get crushed under their desks. Any rock climber or Emergency responder who's worked with natural-disaster zones can tell you the best thing to do in a Earthquake is sit up against a wall or some tall furniture as flat as you can.. Falling objects fall /land at an angle...away from the tall structures like that and create a zone of relative safety against the base of the wall or structure.. just like a falling boulder/rock off a cliff.. they don't just come straight down against the face of the cliffside. If the ceiling came crashing down in that school in the picture, their DESKS are NOT going to hold the debris up to save them. They'll all get crushed. If they sit up against a wall or something tall and relatively strong, they'll have a muuuch higher chance of survival. Look it up. Earthquake triangle of safety!
-2
Hide Suzuki
Columhcille "Falling objects fall /land at an angle" Then standing against a wall isn't that safe either, is it ? Japan has much higher standard when it comes to building, they are not worried about ceiling falling down, if that happens, well, not much you can do. It's more for protecting yourself from smaller falling objects.
2
Dale Berry
@asagao we do have regular drills, but only as far as getting under the table, putting on the hoods and then the lifejackets(we are on Tokyo bay) we couldn't possibly take all the children to the next building every month, the children are too exposed at that time and it's just not safe (although it would be nice to do more than once a year).
0
cleo
I looked it up.
http://www.earthquakesolutions.com/id44.html
-6
steve@CPFC
Mothers meeting, mothers meeting lalala, lalala.
0
USNinJapan2
Participated in the large-scale disaster drill the city near my base puts on every year. It involved everyone from the different branches of the JSDF to the local obachan onigiri making brigade. The scenario as always was a catastrophic earthquake but this year they wisely added a tsunami element to it because of the Tohoku disaster. HOWEVER, despite being a major element of the Tohoku disaster (which we have all supposedly learned a great deal from) there wasn't a single mention of radioactivity or a nuclear element to the drill although we are located 30 miles from a nuclear power plant that's situated on the coast. Of course the city still insists on putting on an annual radiation drill with one of our submarines as the cause because according to them that's the only/most likely cause of a radiation-related crisis for the area. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
0
Sandra Caraan
@Nicky Washida Yeah I do consider myself a "wapanese" or whatever it's called nowdays but I do not(like many others) believe that Japan is the "Magical-happy-manga-land" where everyone's cute and acts like if they're in an anime or something. I'm completely aware that It's a country like every other and that it has it's problems like every other. I guess I was just surprised by all the negative comments because I don't know anything about the politics or living there yet so I'm having a hard time understanding everything I read at the moment and why alot has this negative attitude towards Noda or other things but Hey! that's why I came here in the first place! I want to learn and I want to know more about Japan! After all I am a "Japanophile"!
Moderator
Back on topic please.
-8
steve@CPFC
Ms Caraan; don't let them get you down, they pick on me all the time. I guess they are venting their frustrations on those of us who are happy. It does take a long time to understand Japan, a very long time even when a resident.
0
Nicky Washida
Well, I think you have come to the right place in terms of getting info - this site is choc full of everything you would ever want to know about Japan. There are some who have negative impressions, some who try to see things from all angles, some who feel victimised (not aimed at you Steve, I mean in general) and some who are simply here to stir up controversy. But I think it is the best resource on the web so try not to let any negativity get you down and affect your opinions. Despite all the problems and issues here, it IS a good place to be. I wouldnt have been here so long otherwise and neither would anyone else!
0
knight_of_Honour
the drills show children under their desks when they should lay down flat beside their desks for survival. If the building comes down it flattens the desks. If they are beside it there is a space for survival. That is the currently recognized best survival method for earthquakes.
3
cleo
No it isn't. You're in greater danger from falling objects and flying glass assuming you're in a building that conforms to building regulations.
http://www.earthquakesolutions.com/id44.html
2
Nicky Washida
The difference as I understand it depends on the building regulations. The "triangle of life" thing was researched after quakes in Mexico and Turkey and was found to hold up in buildings not to withstand quakes, for example those made with reinforced concrete and no flexible foundations. But with those designed to withstand quakes as Cleo says, the bigger danger is falling objects and furniture, therefore under the desk is safer.
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