On 30 July, one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded struck eastern Russia, triggering tsunami alerts across Japan and the Pacific. It is a timely reminder that Japan faces such seismic threats every day.
Japan has one of the world’s best earthquake and tsunami preparedness systems, including advanced technologies for earthquake-proofing buildings and an early-warning system. But as head of the International Research Institute of Disaster Science at Tohoku University, I can still see room for improvement.
Even in Japan, people don’t necessarily follow all the steps they should to protect themselves. These include reinforcing buildings against earthquakes, implementing measures to prevent furniture from falling over, installing earthquake-sensitive electrical circuit breakers, and evacuating quickly. Burning, crushing and drowning were the main causes of death in Japan’s last three major earthquakes, in 1923, 1995 and 2011.
Yet only 90% of Japan’s housing stock is earthquake resistant — short of the government’s target of almost 100% by 2025 — with large disparities between municipalities. Measures for preventing furniture from toppling, such as attaching heavy shelves to walls, have been taken by less than 40% of the population, and just 5% have installed earthquake-sensitive circuit breakers. In Kochi Prefecture, a region especially prone to earthquakes (the Nankai Trough subduction zone lies just off its coast), only 68% of people say they would evacuate immediately after shaking stopped.
Many disaster risk-reduction measures aim to change people’s behaviour by raising individuals’ awarenesses of the risks. These actions need to be made more effective — which could be done by following the approach taken by public-health professionals to communicating risks. With my background in medical science, I have seen how successful such approaches have been for public health.
For example, people know they should stop smoking and reduce salt intake to stay healthy, thanks to decades of campaigns. Since 1986, the World Health Organization (WHO) has championed the concept of ‘health promotion’ to encourage everyone in society to take control of their health and take steps to improve it.
A similar approach is needed to reduce the number of deaths and injuries sustained in natural disasters. At my institute, we call such methods ‘bosai’ communication science, after the Japanese term for disaster prevention.
Goals must be set, indicators established and measures to achieve them clearly defined. People need to confront their fears of natural disasters and be shown steps they can take to lessen the effects. Risk-reduction advisers can show realistic images and testimonies of earthquake and tsunami damage, direct people to services for making buildings earthquake-resistant and explain how to perform evacuation drills. Gift certificates or points can be awarded for participating in drills. Disaster preparedness needs to become a social norm.
To implement these measures, platforms need to be established through which disaster-management and health officials can collaborate. The success of these efforts can be judged by indicators such as seismic retrofitting rates and evacuation-drill participation rates, as well as reductions in the number of deaths caused by disasters.
To roll out such a system globally, further collaboration between the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the WHO will be necessary. The UNDRR is the lead agency promoting the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.
Three steps would move a global public-health approach to disaster risks forwards.
First, disaster risk-reduction personnel and health-care professionals should meet regularly to exchange information. I would be happy to help build the required network.
