Tag - disaster-preparedness

 
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October 16, 2024
 

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DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

A man searches through the rubble of a wrecked house in the Turkish town of Cankiri after a strong earthquake hit central Turkey in June 2000.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2024
Earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters will shape our future cities
The progress of Antakya’s renewal bears watching. However it proceeds, there will be lessons to learn.
Oita Prefecture's new fire and ambulance command center, located in the city of Oita, accepts live video footage from callers, allowing dispatchers to assess emergency situations more accurately.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2024
Oita Prefecture first in Japan to launch centralized fire command center
The new command center centralizes emergency 119 call response at the prefecture level, and scales up as needed during major disasters.
A girl charges her phone at the Delpan Evacuation Center after Typhoon Kammuri hit Manila in December 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 7, 2024
Crowd-sourcing data could help Philippines tackle deadly floods
The Philippines is hit by around 20 large storms every year and, due to climate change, that is expected to only get worse.
A damaged road in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 6, after a major earthquake struck the area on New Year's Day
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Oct 6, 2024
Important tool or alarmism? Japan experts split on megaquake advisories.
Supporters say the advisories are about reducing risk, but critics see a system that isn’t based on science and one in which the cons outweigh the pros.
An emergency shelter in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, set up in January after a powerful earthquake earlier that month. The central government plans to survey the level of stockpiles at temporary shelters around the country.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 6, 2024
Japanese government to survey stockpiles at designated shelters
The survey is expected to cover stocks of food, blankets, baby formula, paper diapers for infants and adults, portable toilets, toilet paper and sanitary products.
A lifeguard waving a tsunami flag during a demonstration
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 4, 2024
Meteorological agency ramps up 'tsunami flag' awareness efforts
Visual communication tools like tsunami flags are critical at swimming beaches, where sound can be obscured by waves and wind.
The Ishikawa Prefectural Government engaged KDDI SmartDrone to have its drone operators survey flood-hit areas in the cities of Wajima and Suzu in the prefecture last week.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2024
Private drone operators seek bigger role in disaster response
Establishing protocols with local governments and coordinating the use of drones with manned aircraft would make efforts more effective, they say.
A gas station damaged by Hurricane Helene in Perry, Florida, on Sept. 27. Extreme weather and climate change are exposing the flaws in how we handle hazardous waste.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2024
Toxic waste is at the mercy of climate change
Among Hurricane Helene’s roster of disasters is a storm surge that deluged a retired nuclear power plant in Florida. While radioactive material there remains secure, according to operator Duke Energy, one of the plant’s industrial wastewater ponds overflowed amid the flood. With luck, any resulting...
Water is seen at the bottom of the No.1 shaft, which maintains and controls the inflow and discharge channel as part of a complex of underground tunnels at the Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, which protect Tokyo and its suburbs against floods.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2024
Japan expands underground complex to counter climate change rains
The Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel has already prevented more than ¥150 billion in flood damage.
The deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu is docked at the Port of Shimizu on Sept. 5 ahead of a 106-day expedition by researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2024
Japan's deep-sea vessel digs for answers to 2011 earthquake
In a hundred-day expedition, scientists aboard the Chikyu aim to piece together the earthquake's story and assess the potential for another temblor to be triggered.
Rescue personnel search for missing people in debris after flooding along the Tsukada River Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sept. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2024
Lessons from Japan’s fight against floods as the climate changes
As climate change intensifies flood risk, Japan should rely more on adaptive and nature-based solutions to prepare for disasters like the recent deluge in Ishikawa.
Employees of the Tokai village government in Ibaraki Prefecture offers a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a criticality accident that occurred at a facility of nuclear fuel-processing company JCO.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024
Ex-mayor raps government for lack of preparedness for nuclear disasters
Tatsuya Murakami, who dealt with a 1999 nuclear accident as a village chief, warns against the pursuit of nuclear power without weighing its risks.
Families of people killed by the eruption of Mount Ontake 10 years ago offer prayers in Otaki, Nagano Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 27, 2024
Victims of Mount Ontake eruption remembered 10 years on
Silent prayers were offered at 11:52 a.m., the time when the country's worst volcanic disaster in the postwar era occurred on Sept. 27, 2014.
A ride-hailing service vehicle in Sendai. In times of disasters, such services will be available more widely.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2024
Japan to allow use of ride-hailing services in disasters
Demand for transportation tends to increase during disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, as well as in the recovery and reconstruction process.
Portable power supply devices at a Bic Camera electronics store in Tokyo
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2024
Sales of portable power supply devices surge amid heightened disaster preparedness
Jackery, a U.S.-based major portable power supply solution firm, saw a sharp climb in sales in Japan after the possible Nankai Trough quake alert issued on Aug. 8.
A small fire department vehicle makes its way to a disaster site during rescue operations following the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2024
Japan to deploy smaller rescue vehicles after lessons learned from Noto quake
Based on the experience, the agency plans to provide disaster response teams with smaller rescue vehicles capable of operating over rough and narrow roads.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a meeting on the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2024
Japan to enhance evacuation system for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant
The move is aimed at gaining the understanding of Niigata Prefecture residents for a restart of the plant before Prime Minister Fumio Kishida steps down this autumn.
A shelf for emergency goods is seen almost empty at a hardware store in the city of Shizuoka on Aug. 9.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2024
20% take no action over Nankai Trough quake warning
The emergency information was lifted on Aug. 15 as there was no particular change in the state of the plate boundaries near where the quake is expected to occur.
A map of western Japan shows the Nankai Trough and, to its north, the hypocentral region where the energy for an earthquake is thought to be building.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 30, 2024
Did you feel that? It may be time to refresh your disaster kits — and vocabulary.
Part of Japan got a scare when the first-ever megaquake alert was issued earlier this month, a reminder that knowing the right terms in a disaster is crucial.
A member of the Self-Defense Forces wipes away sweat as he conducts a search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by heavy rain in Kumano, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 11, 2018.
ENVIRONMENT / Boiling Point
Aug 29, 2024
Can Japan handle a heat wave and natural disaster at the same time?
Recent typhoons and the Nankai Trough megaquake alert have put the spotlight on how the country would deal with a dual disaster.
General election campaigning to kick off Tuesday
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center right) makes a speech Sunday in Soka, Saitama Prefecture, along with Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii (center left).
Israeli envoy criticizes Japanese atomic survivor's Gaza comparison
The co-chair of the Nihon Hidankyo atomic bomb survivors' group, Toshiyuki Mimaki, who lived through the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, attends an online news conference from the city on Saturday.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
China’s ‘new Great Wall’ casts a shadow on Nepal
A Nepali paramilitary police force office in the village Hilsa, Nepal, on Oct. 12, 2023
Amid skepticism, CDP faces once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Oct. 27 polls
Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
Where does Shigeru Ishiba stand on the climate issue?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba chairs an Asia Zero Emission Community meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
Tokyo’s Indonesians get through life abroad with a couple of laughs
Performers at Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo shows crack plenty of jokes, but the main purpose behind the group, organizers say, is to provide a space where Indonesian expats can express themselves about any struggles they may have about living abroad.
As Japan shuns stiff drinks, cider aims for a bigger share of the market
Cider in Japan doesn't have as long a history as other alcoholic beverages, but with consumer preferences shifting, it might be just the easy sip for drinkers sick of stiff tipples.
Kyoto partners with e-gift service company to let tourists Donate & Go
The city of Kyoto boasts historic artifacts and cityscapes that millions are willing to travel thousands of kilometers to see, but such treasures are not cheap to maintain, prompting the city to ask foreign tourists for a helping hand.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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