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DISASTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE A FOCUS ON SEARCH AND RESCUE AFTER A TSUNAMI . Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA. FOUR PILLARS OF RESILIENCE. NATURAL HAZARDS INVENTORY VULNERABILITY LOCATION. PREPAREDNESS PROTECTION EMERGENCY RESPONSE
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DISASTER EMERGENCY RESPONSEA FOCUS ON SEARCH AND RESCUE AFTER A TSUNAMI Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA
FOUR PILLARS OF RESILIENCE • NATURAL HAZARDS • INVENTORY • VULNERABILITY • LOCATION • PREPAREDNESS • PROTECTION • EMERGENCY RESPONSE • RECOVERY RISK ASSESSMENT ACCEPTABLE RISK RISK UNACCEPTABLE RISK GOAL: DISASTER RESILIENCE DATA BASES AND INFORMATION COMMUNITY HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS
A DISASTER OCCURS WHEN A CITY’S PUBLIC POLICIES ALLOW IT TO BECOME … UN—PREPARED UN—PROTECTED UN—ABLE TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY NON—RESILIENT IN THE RECOVERY PHASE
THE FOUR PILLARS OF DISASTER RESILIENCE 3. EMERGENCY RESPONSE (EVACUATION; MASS CARE; SEARCH AND RESCUE; EMERGENCY MEDICAL; EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION; LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE)…
SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS: The Timely And Intelligent Concentration of a City’s Resources to Meet Extremely Urgent Needs During the First Few Days After The Tsunami Wave Run Up
AN INTELLIGENT CITY IS READY TO CONDUCT SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS AFTER A TSUNAMI
BUT ----SEARCH AND RESCUE, THE LAST BEST CHANCE FOR SURVIVAL, HAS LIMITS
THE TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI THE M9.0 EARTHQUAKE AND THE ACCOMP-ANYING TSUNAMI WERE CAUSED BY THE ONGOING SUBDUCTION OF THE PACIFIC AND EURASIAN TECTONIC PLATES.
THE TSUNAMI ARRIVED ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER: 3:01 PM, MARCH 11, 2011
THE RESULT: A CATASTROPHE • Japan’s social, technical, administrative, political, legal, health care, and economic systems were tested to their limits by the socio-economic impacts of the earthquake and tsunami, the radiation, and the harsh weather..
THE TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE IS NOW A M9.0 EVENT The MEGA-earthquake, which struck at 2:46 pm on Friday, March 11th, could have caused a disaster….
THE EARTHQUAKE IS NOW A M9.0 EVENT …BUT JAPAN was well prepared to cope with it.
A 7-10 M TSUNAM FOLLOWED IN ABOUT 15 MINUTES Japan was also well prepared to cope with a tsunami, but ….
A 7-10 M TSUNAM FOLLOWED IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES This tsunami was devastating, inun-dating towns, im-mobilizing airports and roads, destroy-ing buildings, and moving everything (e.g., people, cars) in its path as debris.
DIMENSIONS OF THE CATASTROPHE WIDE SPREAD DAMAGE AND LOSS OF FUNCTION MORTALITY ( IN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS) “A NIGHTMARE NUCLEAR DISASTER ” HUGE ECONOMIC LOSSES
SOCIETAL IMPACTS • Ground shaking from the main shock (which lasted about 300 seconds) and more than 150 aftershocks (many in the M6+ range) damaged homes, buildings, essential facilities, nuclear facilities, and critical lifelines (e.g., transportation infrastructure) over a wide area.
SOCIETAL IMPACTS • The tsunami, which following within about 15 minutes, changed Japan’s coast lines, inundated land and urban areas, swept people and cars away, left tons of debris, created the potential for water borne diseases, hindered search and rescue operations, and stalled Japan’s economic productivity.
URGENT NEED FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE • With so many people (about 20,000) missing over a wide area after the tsunami, Search and rescue was a moral imperative and an urgent need.
Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese Government began implementing its post- disaster response plans in a highly-charged, possible “nightmare nuclear disaster” environment.
MARCH 12-17 69 COUNTRIES PROMISED HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE, BUT WERE STYMIED BY THE RISK FROM RADIATION, AND BAD WEATHER
JAPAN’S SEARCH AND RESCUE • The Japanese urban search and rescue teams, which had been helping in the search for Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake victims for two weeks, headed back to Japan to help with the S and R..
JAPAN’S SEARCH AND RESCUE • Approximately 50,000 members of Japan’s Self Defense Forces were mobilized immediately and sent to the hardest hit areas.
JAPAN’S SEARCH AND RESCUE • Tokushu Kyuunan Tai, the search and rescue unit of the Japan Coast Guard, was dispatched to accelerate search and rescue operations..
SEARCH AND RESCUE, OFTEN THE LAST BEST CHANCE FOR SURVIVAL, --- HAS LIMITS ON MARCH 14TH, SOME SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS FOUND NO ONE TO RESCUE