The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, otherwise known as the triple disaster for the tsunami and nuclear power accident it caused, remains fresh in many people’s minds. Another disaster, or series of disasters, that happened seven years ago, were the Kumamoto earthquakes, which are less known.

It may be because of the much smaller scale of the mid-April 2016 earthquakes or that the number of deaths were relatively low (50 deaths directly attributed to the quakes). Another reason was perhaps the location, in the westernmost part of Kyushu, away from the main population of the country.

But for me, the Kumamoto disaster was an important, albeit sad, harbinger that should not be ignored by Japan or the international community.

Namely, more people died in the days, weeks and months after the earthquake due to illness and depression than in the quake itself. Indeed, more than four times as many people died in what is known as kanrenshi, or related deaths (a euphemism for suicides and other mental health or physical problems leading to one’s demise) than by immediate death caused by collapsed structures, falling furniture, fire or landslides.

This number — 218 out of 273 — represents an outstanding 80% of all deaths in the Kumamoto earthquakes.

In contrast, the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake saw approximately 14% of overall deaths, or 921 out of 6,434, attributed to kanrenshi, and the 2011 earthquake in Tohoku saw 17% (3,789 out of 22,669) attributable to suicides or illnesses.

The hope is that the Kumamoto example is simply an outlier and will not become the norm or a trend in the making. In other words, after disasters, more people may find their lives so disrupted that they may lose hope and choose to take their own lives.

This is extremely sad: People who survived the initial disaster end up taking their own lives having already lost either family, friends, their homes, their jobs and communities — or all of the above. Or the mental stress they suffer causes such a physical decline that they become ill and die.

This ends up adding to the death toll, and not only can be prevented, but should be prevented.

I first noticed this after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which I experienced as a graduate student at Kobe University. Homes were destroyed, people were moved to temporary housing in other areas, which for some, were in the end not temporary. Often, they were without their friends, families or neighbors that they had known for years. Many suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder; hundreds subsequently died.

Recalling this after the Great East Japan Earthquake, I established a program within the U.S. Marine Corps where I served as the political adviser to bring children from one of the hardest hit communities in Miyagi Prefecture to Okinawa annually as a way to provide some hope and relaxation to them, their families and their communities. It was successful and the friendships formed between all involved, including the children, families and host families, continue today.

But building true resiliency — the ability to overcome a tragedy or unexpected change — must come before the fact. Robust relationships with one’s community and neighbors can help weather just about any storm. A wider network for mutual support can aid when one community is affected and the other (or others) can come to help.

Of course, there is a role for the government — helping to physically rebuild communities and assist the economy — but the nonmaterial aspects can only really be done socially, through people, neighborhood associations, clubs, religious groups, organizations, institutions, schools and the private sector.

No one knows for sure when the next major catastrophic event — such as a Nankai Trough earthquake and tsunami or a direct hit on Tokyo — will happen, but we do know for certain that robust social ties and strong networks can help lower anxiety and reduce mental health problems following such disasters.

As we remember the victims of the Kumamoto earthquakes and other disasters to date, let us commit to building strong, resilient communities ahead of time so we do not have to mourn those who die unnecessarily afterwards.

Robert D. Eldridge is a former associate professor of U.S.-Japan relations at Osaka University, former political adviser to the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa and the author of “Operation Tomodachi" (Reed International, 2018) and "Preparing for Japan’s Next Disaster" (Reed International, 2018)