Tokyo unprepared for disaster
Sounds familiar: Government study finds that magnitude 7.3 earthquake hitting the northern part of Tokyo Bay would leave about 600,000 people wondering the streets becasue of lack of evacuation centers
On the two-year anniversary of Katrina, we find that other cities are ill-prepared for a majaor natural diaster. An estimated 600,000 people will be stranded in Tokyo’s 23 wards in the event of a major earthquake, but scant progress has been made to avert the potential evacuee crisis, the Cabinet Office said. The Cabinet Office surveyed 247 municipalities in Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, and Ibaraki prefectures and found a serious lack of evacuation centers for the congested metropolitan area. The survey was based on a scenario of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hitting the northern part of Tokyo Bay. Under the scenario, the Cabinet Office estimates that about 600,000 people will be unable to enter evacuation centers in Tokyo’s 23 wards, the area where the heaviest damage is expected. The number of those stranded was calculated on the assumption that evacuation centers lacking sufficient quake-resistance strength would collapse in the temblor.
Municipal governments typically designate elementary and junior high school buildings and hotels as evacuation centers, but these facilities will not be able to handle the expected surge in evacuees following a huge earthquake. Only a small percentage of the municipalities are considering using other public facilities, such as community centers, and private facilities as evacuation centers. With the declining number of students, municipal governments are consolidating and closing down schools, which could have provided convenient sites for evacuation centers. According to the survey, the overall number of those stranded could be reduced to about 490,000 if many people head to evacuation centers far from their homes. Hotels and Japanese-style ryokan inns in Tokyo and the four prefectures would be able to accommodate only about 43,000 people. In Tokyo’s 23 wards, there would be enough rooms for only about 5,800 people, according to the survey. Tents prepared in Tokyo and the four prefectures could shelter about 66,000 people, but most of these tents are on the simple side and cannot be used in bad weather or in winter.
