yamaonna

On Tuesday we had an Earthquake and Fire Drill at school, and it started me thinking on a few things.  Firstly how ‘planned’ everything has to be in Japan for things to go smoothly, and secondly, how an earthquake would affect me.

In Japan everything has to be planned, stamped and signed off about 3 times before an ‘event’ can actually take place.  This..  Obsessive-ness brings to mind a tee-shirt I bought a few years ago that says ‘Your moments of happiness have the precision of military strategy’.  Now, I’m not suggesting that having a drill in itself is a bad thing.  However, as far as I can remember from my own school days, drills were a surprise for the students.  That’s not the case in Japan.  The students were told on Monday to be prepared for a drill on Tuesday morning during their Home Room period.  … ……  <sigh>  So, since this is the policy, then it’s our theory that earthquakes are only allowed to occur on Tuesday mornings from 0840 to 0930.  Nice to know they have things all sorted out.

The drill was interesting however.  Working in a Japanese school there is a huge (Grand Canyon sized actually) gap in communications.  I don’t learn about anything until after its happened.  So, from a personal point of view it’s nice to know what the students have to do in the event of a major earthquake, and where we should evacuate to.  Firstly, during the ‘earthquake’ the students are instructed to ‘duck and cover’ or whatever the Japanese equivalent is.  So I peeked into a classroom to see them crouched under their tables.  For me it was strange.  I come from a fairly stable country seismically, and I’m certainly not from the era of impending nuclear attack.  Then after a few minutes it was announced that a fire had broken out in the science lab and we had to evacuate.

You might not be aware, but in Japanese schools you generally have your indoor shoes, outdoor shoes, and at my school, your gym shoes.  In the evacuation you have to wear your indoor shoes outside (which really really freaks me out, which in turn makes me worry that I truly am turning Japanese).  So, when we left the building there were large mats out (because you should clean your shoes before exiting the building???) and when we returned they had out little damp clothes to get the dirt of our shoes.  And on top of that, the evacuation area was set up with a speaker system, so everyone could hear the principle.  All of these just compound the idea that not only are their ‘moments of joy’ but pretty much everything else runs with ‘military strategy’.

The Principal gave a fairly interesting talk about earthquakes and how to react, even if I could only understand a small percentage of what he was saying.  His talk prompted me to remember one thing my mother is always asking  – ‘Do you have your emergency kit prepared?”  which I have to admit I don’t…  So, I started doing some research into what you should do in the event of a major earthquake.  American Red Cross has a very good site with the basics.  In general the advice is  –

• If you are able, take cover under a sturdy table or the like, cover your face and eyes with your arms and hold on (Drop, cover and hold on)
• If you are unable to do that, take cover near an interior wall away from glass or hazards that can fall on you
• If you are outside, head to a clear area and drop

This is all very widely accepted advice, however, some of it I question the relevance in Japan.  Interior walls are quite thin in this country, so I don’t think that’s a great option.  Taking cover in a doorway is something I have heard of before, and I have also heard that it’s a bit of a fallacy because doors aren’t always very strong.  But If I have the option, I think my front door is probably the most structurally strong part of my house.  Its big and metal.  Plus there are less windows on that side of the building, and from what I’ve seen buildings have the tendency to collapse into the side with the most windows simply because they aren’t as strong.

And also talking about fallacies, it has been suggested that taking cover under a desk will kill you if the building collapses.  Yes, it will protect you from glass or small falling objects, but, and I agree, its highly unlikely to be able to take the weight of your house.  An interesting website about this theory is here.  They suggest that you should drop next to a raised object which will then give you some room in event of collapse. 

In Japan, it’s mostly buildings that were built prior to 1981 that tend to collapse.  This is due to slacker building regulations and many older homes having very heavy roofs supported only on wooden frames.  And the first floor is most likely to collapse, however weak structures can also cause other floors to collapse.  Luckily for me, my building is circa 1991.

Apart from dying in building collapse, the next biggest risk is fire.  In fact, I would say that the majority of people die in the resulting fires, rather than the quake itself.  This is certainly true for the Great Kanto Earthquake, and from what I’ve read also true from the Great Hanshin Earthquake.  Of the former around 140,000 people died, and the later over 6,000.  Definitely a fire hydrant is going on my ‘to get’ list.

Finally, now that I’m confident to my plan of action during an earthquake, I am resolved to pull together an emergency kit.  The American Red Cross also has some excellent suggestions as to what to include, as well as the Saitama Prefecture website.

Its been a learning week v(^-^)