Japan Takes Earthquake Safety Seriously. Here’s a Look at How the Culture of Preparedness is Keeping So Many People Alive.

• Japan is still dealing with the aftermath of a powerful earthquake earlier this month.

• With its history of natural disasters, Japan is one of the countries best prepared for emergencies.

• An advanced warning system, strict building codes and a prepared population all help.

Japan's Noto Peninsula is reeling from its most powerful earthquake in a century, but the death toll is remarkably low.

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the peninsula in central Japan on Jan. 1, violently rattling buildings, triggering landslides, sparking fires and even forcing land up to create new coastal beaches.

Such earthquakes can be incredibly deadly. When two earthquakes of similar magnitude struck Turkey and Syria last year, the disaster resulted in at least 56,000 deaths. In 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake and its aftershocks killed up to 300,000 people in Haiti. In 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Pakistan killed at least 79,000 people.

However, on Friday the death toll from Japan's latest earthquake reached 94 people, Reuters reported.

It's no coincidence. Just look at the mega disaster that Japan experienced in 2011, much bigger than this last earthquake. In March, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake caused a tsunami and a nuclear power plant meltdown.

While more than 18,000 people died, the World Bank noted that Japan's history of preparedness helped many evacuate and likely saved lives.

The situation on the Noto Peninsula is certainly dire. The January 1 earthquake was possibly the strongest felt in the region in more than 100 years Nature. More than 200 people are missing and 30 villages remain inaccessible, while the rubble-ravaged Wajima town faces shortages of food and water for about 11,000 evacuees sheltering there, Reuters reported.

Japan's resilience to earthquakes isn't perfect, but experts say the country is doing some things right: investing in infrastructure, enforcing strict building codes and training its citizens.

"Japan has lessons they can teach to everyone," Daniel Aldrich, a professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University who studies disasters and civil society, told Business Insider.

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Japan invests in its buildings

Japan lies on four tectonic plates, making it an extremely seismically active country. The constant grinding of the plates can cause 1,500 earthquakes per year. As a result, Japan has been tightening its earthquake preparedness for decades.

Following a series of natural disasters after World War II, Japan introduced the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act in 1961, increasing investment and planning around earthquakes and floods.

Japan now has some of the strictest building codes of any country in the world, The New York Times reported after the 2011 earthquake. Through decades of studying how the country's earthquakes affect buildings, Japanese engineers have focused on earthquake-resistant structures.

Japan is designing new buildings that move back and forth with the motion of an earthquake, rather than standing still and letting that movement stress the structure.

In tall buildings, giant cushions of rubber and steel help absorb some of the shaking caused by earthquakes, as do hydraulic shock absorbers. Many older structures have been retrofitted to better withstand disasters.

However, sometimes surviving the earthquake itself is not enough. For example, BBC News reported that many older wooden structures in Wajima went up in flames after fires broke out following the 2024 earthquake.

Naturally, Japan's wealth gives it an advantage over other earthquake-affected countries. However, part of seismic safety has more to do with mindset than money.

Japan maintains a culture of emergency preparedness

September 1 is Disaster Prevention Day in Japan. Officials designated this day in 1960 to prepare citizens for emergencies.

When he lived in Japan, Aldrich said he and his neighbors spent a day every year practicing extensive drills, practicing tourniquets, slings for broken arms and how to douse house fires with a hose.

"No matter where you are in Japan, everyone has these exercises," including children, Aldrich said. The administration is constantly communicating its importance," Aldrich said, adding, "Are you ready? What have you done? Do you know your neighbors? Can you help in a disaster? What skills can you bring with you?"

Students take part in earthquake drills and the government conducts simulations to test its preparedness. The government also advises people to always have an emergency kit ready.

This is crucial for survival, as affected areas can be cut off from emergency services for days after a disaster, just as much of the Noto Peninsula is now.

In those cases, Aldrich said, your neighbors are your first responders. In more than ten years of research into disasters, he has discovered that social relationships are an important predictor of survival. He said community earthquake drills teach people what to do and help them trust their neighbors.

In 2007, the Japan Meteorological Society launched its "Earthquake Early Warning System" (EEWS). The J-Alert system can also broadcast to TVs, radios and mobile phones.

Tokyo even has one Radio-equipped automatic that sounds an alarm for park visitors.

Warnings go out a few seconds to a few minutes before the earthquake hits, giving people some time to get to a safer location. They are also crucial for rail traffic. Japan Railways trains stop automatically when the earthquake detection system activates.

In 2022, a bullet train derailed after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, but none of the 78 passengers and crew were seriously injured, Kyodo News reported. According to The Japan Times, the train slowed significantly from its typical speed of up to 300 kilometers per hour.

Japan is installing resilient infrastructure

Like its buildings, Japan has the experience and money to strengthen its infrastructure against earthquakes.

During the 2011 disaster, rapid response teams were able to quickly repair roads to help move supplies and aid to affected areas. In one case, repairing a broken road took just six days, The guard reported.

A 2021 World Bank report said the country learned several lessons from the 2011 disasters, from improving water supply infrastructure to strengthening backups of the submarine cables that power the internet.

Aldrich said the biggest lesson lies in revamping safety regulations for nuclear power plants.

After the Fukushima meltdown in 2011, Japan was slow to restart nuclear power. The Japan Times reported that 10 of the 33 reactors are operating after being closed more than a decade ago.

Experts are also concerned about the possibility of a very large "megaquake" happening sometime in the next forty years. The guard. In 2020, a Japanese government panel warned that another major tsunami could flood the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant at any time.

The double disaster of a tsunami

One of the reasons why an earthquake in Japan can be so dangerous is the possibility of tsunamis.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Japan built sea walls to hold back giant waves. But in 2011, a 40 foot tsunami stormed over the 20-foot seawall of the Fukushima plant. As a result, the factory suffered a meltdown.

Despite a long history of disasters, the country was not fully prepared for the tsunami that followed the 2011 earthquake, according to a 2012 report.

In some areas, buoys equipped with sensors monitor for tsunamis. As with earthquake warnings, the Japan Meteorological Agency uses TV, radio and mobile phones to distribute the warnings. Sirens also sound, often warning people for a few minutes that a wave may hit.

In contrast, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck a number of islands without a formal warning system and resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, according to NOAA.

According to the World Bank, historical knowledge may have saved lives during the 2011 tsunami in Japan. Some survivors knew how far the water could penetrate thanks to stone markers placed by residents after previous tsunamis. Some monuments are hundreds of years old.

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