Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.1
Major natural disasters in Japan since 1891
Date Disaster (Earthquake magnitude) Number of dead and missing
1891.10 Nobi Earthquake (M7.9)
7,273
1896.06 Meiji Sanriku Earthquake Tsunami (M7.1)
21,959
1923.09 Great Kanto Earthquake (M7.9)
142,807
1927.03 Kita-tango Earthquake (M7.5)
2,925
1933.03 Showa Sanriku Earthquake Tsunami (M8.3)
3,064
1934.09 Typhoon Muroto
3,036
1943.09 Tottori Earthquake (M7.2)
1,083
1944.12 Tohnankai Earthquake (M7.9)
1,223
1945.01 Mikawa Earthquake (M6.8)
2,306
1945.09 Typhoon Makurazaki
3,756
1946.12 Nankai Earthquake (M8.0)
1,443
1947.09 Typhoon hits Kanto, etc.
1,930
1948.06 Fukui Earthquake (M7.1)
3,769
1953.06 Torrential Rains in Kyushu, etc.
1,013
1953.07 Torrential Rains in Wakayama
1,124
1954.09 Typhoon Toyamaru
1,761
1958.09 Typhoon Kanogawa
1,269
1959.09 Typhoon Ise-wan
5,098
1995.01 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (M7.3) 6,435
2011.03 Great East Japan Earthquake (M9.0) 18,880
Note
: The number of dead recorded in the Great East Japan Earthquake is based on the White Paper
on Disaster Management, Cabinet Offi ce (
2002b
)
Source
: Cabinet (
2002a
)
various branches of government and that each establish their own disaster management
councils and headquarters to implement disaster countermeasures. Moreover, the
legislation mandated that various public organizations develop management opera-
tion plans (e.g., the Central Disaster Management Council, public corporations,
prefectural and municipal governments). At present, disaster countermeasures are
being developed in response to more than 50 separate but related pieces of legisla-
tion (Cabinet Offi ce
2002a
).
The lessons of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake taught the nation that
it is extremely diffi cult to prevent disasters in advance (Cabinet
2002b
). The White
Paper on Disaster Management notes that combined with the efforts of public insti-
tutions, we are now encouraging self-assistance, based on the principle that each
and every person should protect themselves by themselves. In this fashion, people
prepare in their normal daily lives for the possibility of disaster, undertaking the
durability of their homes to withstand shaking, fastening furniture so it does not fall
over, preparing in advance the things they will need to take in an emergency, and
participating in drills. Along with protection by the policies and assistance of public
institutions, the report points out the importance of self-assistance, and cooperative
'community assistance' in which people in the local community aid each other.
