Taking stock of disaster losses five years after the Sendai world conference
The "decade of action" starting this year will reveal how successful or not the Sendai Framework has been in reducing disaster losses.
Dealing with disaster in Japan
It's been a tough month for Japan. First the biggest typhoon in 25 years blew through the western region, then a major earthquake in Hokkaido swiftly followed. Both wreaked havoc and recovery is still in process. On Tech takes a look at apps offering ...
What was learned from the Osaka earthquake?
Action can and should be taken to reduce hazards posed by earthquakes.
Temporary disaster housing has an unforeseen permanence
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake left 110,000 people in three prefectures without shelter. Most of these people moved into emergency evacuation centers while the authorities prepared temporary housing for them. About 53,000 prefabricated housing units, called kasetsu, were built in accordance with a national ...
Joso disaster prompts ministry rethink of flood control, prediction policies
On Dec. 11, the land ministry released a new policy vision for dealing with floods in response to September's typhoon-triggered breach of the Kinugawa River, which inundated residential areas of Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, stranding thousands for hours, and some for days. The policy vision calls ...
Hyogo group issues multilingual disaster preparation guidebook
The Hyogo International Association in Hyogo Prefecture has created a disaster preparation guidebook in nine languages, including Vietnamese and Spanish, for families that can't speak Japanese. The guidebook provides explanations of eight kinds of natural disasters common in Japan, including mudslides, and Japanese terms related ...
Mount Ontake eruption sparks review of volcano disaster guidelines
Japan's volcano warning guidelines will be reviewed to include hikers and tourists after the deadliest eruption in decades reveals major shortcomings.
Disaster risk discussed at conference organized by Harvard students
The lesson to be learned from devastating natural disasters is how important it is to prepare for them before they happen, experts at a panel discussion organized by the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) stressed Tuesday. Always a hot topic after the ...
An updated tsunami evacuation map has been released by officials in the disaster-hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, and includes warnings and important safety tips. The map, available on the town's official website, was revised based on lessons learned from the March 2011 earthquake and ...
An illustrated book created by a nonprofit organization in Aichi Prefecture to inform children how to protect themselves in an earthquake is winning wide-ranging praise. The NPO Kasumin, based in the city of Kasugai, issued "Jishin ga Kitara — Bosai-ehon" ("When a Quake Hits — ...
Disaster plan to swiftly evacuate socially vulnerable citizens revised
The government's disaster prevention panel Friday revised its basic preparedness plan in hopes of ensuring that the elderly and other vulnerable people can evacuate quickly and smoothly, drawing from lessons from the March 2011 disasters. Under the revised plan, the government will put stronger measures ...
Japan to pledge ¥300 billion in aid to ASEAN for disaster prevention
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to announce at a regional summit this weekend that Japan will extend \300 billion in official development assistance over a five-year period to boost the disaster management framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
