Risk managers from Japan share insights gained as a result of 2011 earthquake and tsunami

Japan’s March 11, 2001 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis reaffirmed lessons learned in the past, and yet still taught valuable new ones, according to delegates of the Japanese chapter of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).
Yoshi Hamaji, president of the Japan RIMS chapter, and Kazuaki Tanaka of Airyu Management Institute Limited shared their experiences with delegates of the RIMS annual conference in Vancouver on May 2.
Experience from past earthquake events had caused Japan to develop strict building codes, establish clear and simple evacuation messages, and allowed a sense of calm and composure to prevail during major events, Hamaji said, noting there was not one case of looting or violence following the Mar. 11 events.
But, there were also lessons learned.
“It is our culture to reject or try not to think of the worst-case scenario,” Hamaji said. “This event was unparalleled, and was difficult to predict the chain of events and reactions. We need to re-train ourselves and the decision makers to think of the worst possible outcomes and to plan for those.”
Other lessons learned included:
• Convey the severity of the crisis in evacuation messages. During the tsunami warning, citizens were not made aware that this tsunami was far more severe than past tsunamis. So, between waves – sometimes, there can be a period of 10, 20 or 30 minutes between waves, with each wave intensifying – citizens who had evacuated to higher ground went back to collect belongings. They had incorrectly assumed the second wave was not going to be major, and were killed, Hamaji said.
• The value of social media as a communication tool during the chaotic aftermath. Because cell networks and phone lines were overtaxed or down, citizens resorted to the Internet, using Twitter and Facebook to communicate with loved ones.
• Plan and communicate rolling blackouts. These, said Hamaji, were “not something ever expected and were poorly planned.” He pointed to the sudden loss of the use of escalators and elevators, as well as the auto-locking of facilities and buildings, which caused chaos by limiting people’s ability to move about.
• The need to properly ensure volunteers are trained and prepared. “Those volunteers who were not prepared to see dead bodies and mass destruction suffered psychologically,” Hamaji said, and this hindered relief efforts.
• Water is essential, not only for drinking but for toilets too. Drinking water is vital, but so is that ability to flush a toilet. If infrastructure is damaged and power is out in a highrise building, then the ability to flush a toilet is hindered, worsening sanitary conditions.