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Recovery from the 2011 Japan Earthquake
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As can be expected from the most powerful known earthquake ever to hit Japan, critical infrastructure, environmental, compensation and disaster assistance, and population resiliency recovery efforts are still ongoing. The country’s national and local authorities have estimated that reconstruction will cost approximately ¥23 trillion ($290 billion) and take over a decade. While nearly all the rubble has been removed from affected areas, the country’s energy infrastructure is still recovering, as all but two nuclear reactors remain offline and the Fukushima nuclear reactor is still leaking large amounts of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced – mostly from areas around the Fukushima nuclear plant – and the process to remove radiation from the soil may take decades (Figure 1 Fukushima Radiation Map). The economy took a massive hit, not only from the destruction and cleanup costs, but also from a loss of income from manufacturing, fishing, and tourism.
Figure 1. Radiation in the Environment around Fukushima Daiichi NPS. Courtesy of Jerry Cuttler used here for educational purposes only.
Due to the large area of impact of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, a broad range of stakeholders were involved with disaster recovery efforts. The primary disaster recovery stakeholders were the citizens in the impacted area. Displaced people needed sheltering as their homes and communities were rebuilt. Short term shelters as well as long term solutions, such as public housing or temporary housing, were able to meet the needs of the people. The impacted region’s economy was also a key stakeholder during the recovery phase. Reconstruction was necessary to reestablish economic productivity as well as income streams for the thousands of residents in the disaster area. Employees were needed to keep businesses in operation. Finding workers was difficult due to population emigration from the disaster area. Another disaster recovery stakeholder was local governments. Government facilities were damaged, infrastructure destroyed, and finances strained due to the disaster. Financial support was needed to support recovery efforts. Lastly, the environment was a stakeholder in the recovery phase of the disaster. Millions of tons of debris needed to be removed. Radioactive contamination was and still is an issue in the Tohoku region. Funding and skilled personnel were needed for debris removal and to reduce the impact of radioactive contamination.
GIS and social media played a significant role in recovery efforts in the aftermath of the most devastating disaster to ever hit Japan. The first tweet related to the disaster was posted within 1 minute and 25 seconds of the initial earthquake. While mobile networks became overloaded, internet connectivity remained stable allowing Twitter to become a useful source of vital information for recovery efforts. As the subsequent tsunami and aftershocks occurred, Twitter followers posted tweets within minutes describing the effects felt from these events. Information contained in these tweets gave emergency managers an early indication of the damage received from these disasters. The widespread destruction and potential exposure to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant created many challenges for field inspectors conducting initial damage assessment. To overcome these challenges, GIS was used to compare post-event aerial imagery with pre-event imagery to create a tsunami inundation zone (Figure 2. Before and After Imagery). Buildings located inside the tsunami inundation zone were identified and inspected for damage using the post-event aerial imagery. If the roof of a building was missing, the building was classified as “washed away.” If the roof was present, the building was classified as “surviving.” Analysts were able to identify 162,051 buildings with tsunami exposure; of those, 51,073 were classified as “washed away.” One drawback using this method of damage assessment was identifying heavily damaged buildings with a roof intact, but structurally unsuitable for use. While this method of damage assessments was not without fault, it did allow for efficient and accurate assessment without further exposure to radiation.
Figure 2. False color photos taken before and after the 2011 disaster near the city of Ishinomaki. The before photo was taken August 8, 2008, while the after photo was taken March 14, 2011. In both photos water is represented as dark blue, land covered in vegitation is represented in red, exposed earth is tan, and buildings and other impervious surfaces are silver.
(The Atlantic, 2013)
Videos:
Mapping the Devastation Across Japan (CNN, March,12 2011)http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/tech/2011/03/12/nr.levs.quake.vids.cnn.html
References
The Atlantic (2013, March 7). “Japan Earthquake, 2 Years Later: Before and After. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/03/ja...er/100469/ (link is external)
CBS News, March 11, 2013. “Two years later, Japan seethes at tsunami recovery.” Online at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57573526/...i-recovery (link is external)
Gokon, H. and Koshimura, S., 2012. Mapping of building damage of the 2011 Tohuku Earthquake Tsunami in Miyagi Prefecture. Coastal Engineering Journal, 54(01). Retrieved from http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.114...3412500064 (link is external), on October 4, 2013.
The Heritage Foundation, April 26, 2012. “One Year Later: Lessons from Recovery After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.” Online at: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012...earthquake (link is external)
International Recovery Platform (2013). Recovery Status Report. The Great East Japan Earthquake 2011: Case Studies. Retrieved from http://www.recoveryplatform.org/assets/Japan/...0JAPAN.pdf (link is external)
Witze, Alexandra. (2011, March 11) Earthquake is Biggest in Japan’s Recorded History. Wired.com. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/big...arthquake/ (link is external)
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Recovery from the 2011 Japan Earthquake
PrintPrint
As can be expected from the most powerful known earthquake ever to hit Japan, critical infrastructure, environmental, compensation and disaster assistance, and population resiliency recovery efforts are still ongoing. The country’s national and local authorities have estimated that reconstruction will cost approximately ¥23 trillion ($290 billion) and take over a decade. While nearly all the rubble has been removed from affected areas, the country’s energy infrastructure is still recovering, as all but two nuclear reactors remain offline and the Fukushima nuclear reactor is still leaking large amounts of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced – mostly from areas around the Fukushima nuclear plant – and the process to remove radiation from the soil may take decades (Figure 1 Fukushima Radiation Map). The economy took a massive hit, not only from the destruction and cleanup costs, but also from a loss of income from manufacturing, fishing, and tourism.
Figure 1. Radiation in the Environment around Fukushima Daiichi NPS. Courtesy of Jerry Cuttler used here for educational purposes only.
Due to the large area of impact of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, a broad range of stakeholders were involved with disaster recovery efforts. The primary disaster recovery stakeholders were the citizens in the impacted area. Displaced people needed sheltering as their homes and communities were rebuilt. Short term shelters as well as long term solutions, such as public housing or temporary housing, were able to meet the needs of the people. The impacted region’s economy was also a key stakeholder during the recovery phase. Reconstruction was necessary to reestablish economic productivity as well as income streams for the thousands of residents in the disaster area. Employees were needed to keep businesses in operation. Finding workers was difficult due to population emigration from the disaster area. Another disaster recovery stakeholder was local governments. Government facilities were damaged, infrastructure destroyed, and finances strained due to the disaster. Financial support was needed to support recovery efforts. Lastly, the environment was a stakeholder in the recovery phase of the disaster. Millions of tons of debris needed to be removed. Radioactive contamination was and still is an issue in the Tohoku region. Funding and skilled personnel were needed for debris removal and to reduce the impact of radioactive contamination.
GIS and social media played a significant role in recovery efforts in the aftermath of the most devastating disaster to ever hit Japan. The first tweet related to the disaster was posted within 1 minute and 25 seconds of the initial earthquake. While mobile networks became overloaded, internet connectivity remained stable allowing Twitter to become a useful source of vital information for recovery efforts. As the subsequent tsunami and aftershocks occurred, Twitter followers posted tweets within minutes describing the effects felt from these events. Information contained in these tweets gave emergency managers an early indication of the damage received from these disasters. The widespread destruction and potential exposure to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant created many challenges for field inspectors conducting initial damage assessment. To overcome these challenges, GIS was used to compare post-event aerial imagery with pre-event imagery to create a tsunami inundation zone (Figure 2. Before and After Imagery). Buildings located inside the tsunami inundation zone were identified and inspected for damage using the post-event aerial imagery. If the roof of a building was missing, the building was classified as “washed away.” If the roof was present, the building was classified as “surviving.” Analysts were able to identify 162,051 buildings with tsunami exposure; of those, 51,073 were classified as “washed away.” One drawback using this method of damage assessment was identifying heavily damaged buildings with a roof intact, but structurally unsuitable for use. While this method of damage assessments was not without fault, it did allow for efficient and accurate assessment without further exposure to radiation.
Figure 2. False color photos taken before and after the 2011 disaster near the city of Ishinomaki. The before photo was taken August 8, 2008, while the after photo was taken March 14, 2011. In both photos water is represented as dark blue, land covered in vegitation is represented in red, exposed earth is tan, and buildings and other impervious surfaces are silver.
(The Atlantic, 2013)
Videos:
Mapping the Devastation Across Japan (CNN, March,12 2011)http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/tech/2011/03/12/nr.levs.quake.vids.cnn.html
References
The Atlantic (2013, March 7). “Japan Earthquake, 2 Years Later: Before and After. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/03/ja...er/100469/ (link is external)
CBS News, March 11, 2013. “Two years later, Japan seethes at tsunami recovery.” Online at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57573526/...i-recovery (link is external)
Gokon, H. and Koshimura, S., 2012. Mapping of building damage of the 2011 Tohuku Earthquake Tsunami in Miyagi Prefecture. Coastal Engineering Journal, 54(01). Retrieved from http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.114...3412500064 (link is external), on October 4, 2013.
The Heritage Foundation, April 26, 2012. “One Year Later: Lessons from Recovery After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.” Online at: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012...earthquake (link is external)
International Recovery Platform (2013). Recovery Status Report. The Great East Japan Earthquake 2011: Case Studies. Retrieved from http://www.recoveryplatform.org/assets/Japan/...0JAPAN.pdf (link is external)
Witze, Alexandra. (2011, March 11) Earthquake is Biggest in Japan’s Recorded History. Wired.com. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/big...arthquake/ (link is external)
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