Responses to the Earthquake There was an early warning system being sounded off.

The Earthquake occurred at 14:46 and the emergency warning alarm was provided at 14:49. It only took 3 minutes, which is a considerably short time, for information about the disaster to be transmitted to the Japan Meteorological Agency to set off the alarm. During an Earthquake, every second counts. It is important to warn the residents about the Earthquake so that they can evacuate as quickly as possible, minimizing the number of casualties. From this, we can see that Japan is very efficient in disaster management Upon hearing the alarm, residents were evacuated to nearby disaster relief shelters. The residents were armed with basic knowledge on what to do during Earthquakes. In several Earthquake-prone areas, disaster drills were performed regularly. In schools, disaster education was taught to the students so that they can react accordingly, increasing their survival rate. This was proven successfully, as the report about Kamaishi revealed that only 5 out of 2900 school children died. We can see that the people in Japan are equipped with basic disaster knowledge and they are prepared to face any upcoming challenges Prevention and mitigation measures Before the Earthquake, the government had already gone through Earthquake education with their people. As a result, the people were able to evacuate quickly to the disaster shelters, minimizing the number of casualties. In addition, the people were also very united and disciplined. For instance, people assemble themselves to collect water from the swimming pool so as to maintain cleanliness in the makeshift toilets. Other than that, the people were also very calm as they did not blame the government for inefficiency or lack of will to help the affected populace, despite the fact that many victims had little food, water and even limited shelter for days. The crowd was organized and not chaotic, and this simplified things for the government. One of the major problems caused by the Earthquake is the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. According to the reports, the tsunami, this was a result of the Earthquake, flooded the whole plant, including low-lying generators and electrical switchgear in reactor basements and external pumps for supplying cooling seawater. To add on, the connection to the electrical grid was broken as the Tsunami destroyed the power lines, thus all the power used to cool down the reactors were lost and this resulted in the overheating of reactor, eventually leading to reactors meltdown. To tackle this problem, the government took the unusual step of attempting to swamp the reactors with sea water as an emergency coolant. They also introduced boric acid, which hampers nuclear reaction. On 17 March, the government sent helicopters to drop water on reactor buildings 3 and 4, with the aim of replenishing water in storage ponds containing spent fuel rods. In order to prepare for the possible Earthquake in happening, Fukushima Nuclear plant was built in a way that it will shut down automatically when vibrations on Earth is detected and able to withstand strong Earthquakes. In fact, it stood up to an earthquake that released more than 40 times the amount of energy the plant was

designed to survive. If the nuclear plant collapses, it might lead to a nuclear explosion, putting many lives in danger. From this, we can see that the government had made careful plans and measures to prepare for any potential problems that the nuclear plant might face. As such, we can see that the Japan government in very responsible in their own actions. Effectiveness of measures From the Tohoku Earthquake, we can see that educating the people about the Earthquake is very effective. The 7.9 magnitude Sichuan Earthquake claimed 70,000 lives; however, the 8.9 magnitude Tohoku Earthquake claimed only 16,000 lives. Tohoku Earthquake was more intense, but there were lesser casualties. This is because, the people living in Japan were equipped with knowledge about Earthquake, whereas the people living in Sichuan know little or nothing about Earthquakes. We can see that educating the people about Earthquake is very effective in reducing the negative impacts during the disaster. As for the cooling of the nuclear, the Japan government is very efficient in cooling down the nuclear reactors. However, the decommission of the earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant will take about 10 years before it can proceed. For now, the Japan government will just have to wait. The reinforcement of the nuclear plant is an excellent and brilliant move. By reinforcing the nuclear plant, it is able to withstand strong vibrations in the ground, preventing the nuclear plant from collapsing. Many lives will be saved from this. Overall, the measures taken to minimize the negative impacts of the Earthquake are effective. From this, we can see how the Japan government prepares their people to face upcoming challenges such as Earthquake. The Japan government has put in a lot of effort to think of ways to counter all potential problems Japan might face, so that their people can react to the situation calmly, knowing what to do. This in turn solves many unwanted problems, making work easier for the Japan government.