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wf i f e UNITED NATIONS U S E D !
UNIVtKSI 1Y ------------------ - :United Nations ’ Intergovernmental
Educational, Scientific and \ O ceanographic Cultural Organization j Commission
Japan - UNESCO - UNU INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
The Great East Japan Tsunami and Tsunami Warning Systems: Policy Perspectives
Summary Statement
16 - 17 February 2012 U Thant International Conference HaiiUnited Nations University Tokyo
Supported by:M inistry o f Foreign A ffairs o f Japan, M inistry o f E ducation , C ulture, Sports, Science and T echnology Japan , D isaste r M anagem ent, C ab inet O ffice o f G o vernm en t o f Japan, M inistry o f L and, In frastru c tu re , T ran sp o rt and T ourism o f Japan , Jap an M eteorological Agency, F ire and D isaster M anagem ent Agency, Japanese N ational C om m ission for U N E SC O ,T he U niversity o f Tokyo, A sian D isaster R eduction C enter, Jap an In te rn a tio n a l C o ope ra tion Agency, Jap an B roadcasting C o rp o ra tio n (N H K ), T he M ainichi N ew spapers
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m H ff H
This symposium is dedicated to all the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March 2011
The designation employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat o f UNESCO, concerning the legal status o f any country or territory, or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of the frontiers o f any country or territory.
For bibliographic purposes this document should be cited as follows:Summary Statement from the Japan — UNESCO — U NU Symposium on The Great East Japan Tsunami on 11 March 2011 and Tsunami Warning Systems:Policy Perspectives 16 — 17 February 2012 UNESCO/IOC 2012
This summary has been prepared by: Thorkild Aarup, Bernardo Aliaga, Tony Elliott, Ardito Kodijat, Masahiro Yamamoto
Photo: Thorkild Aarup
Printed in France (IOC/BRO/2012/1)
© U N ESC O IO C 2012
The Sym posiumC om ing from 25 countries, 290 physical and social scientists, w arning system operators, emergency and response managers, planners, journalists, policy— and decision makers attended the Japan — U N E S C O — U N U Symposium on The Great East Japan Tsunam i on 11 M arch 2011 and Tsunam i W arning Systems: Policy Perspectives from
16 — 17 February 2012 in Tokyo. The sym posium was organized by the Intergovernm ental O ceanographic
Com m ission o f U N E S C O and the U nited Nations University, in collaboration w ith the G overnm ent
o f Japan.
The O pening Session was m oderated by D r W endy W atson-W right, Executive Secretary o f IO C and
Assistant D irector-G eneral o f U N E SC O . W elcoming remarks were provided by His Imperial Highness
Crow n Prince N aruhito . The sym posium was officially opened by M s Irina Bokova (D irector General o f
U N E SC O ) and D r Konrad Osterwalder (Rector o f the U nited N ations University). Closing remarks were
provided by M r Köichirö M atsuura, Former D irector General o f U N E SC O .
The BackgroundThe Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunam i on 11 M arch 2011 resulted in the loss o f about 19,000 lives. M ajor damage and destruction occurred to buildings and infrastructure in the flooded areas, w ith large societal impacts and social and economic consequences. The Japan C abinet Office has estim ated the losses to 16,9 Trillion Yen (approximately 220 Billion US $).
Since the event m any national and international post-tsunam i field surveys have been carried out. Performance analyses o f tsunam i early w arning systems in place at the tim e o f this event have also been done (Ref 1).
The Facts (as o f 2 9 February 2012)• 15,844 people were killed and 3,276 people are
missing.
• 128,753 houses were completely destroyed and245,376 houses were partially destroyed.
• 92.4% o f the deaths were caused by drowning
(1.1% were burned, 4.4% crushed, and 2% unspecified).
• 65% o f the dead were over 60 years old.
• The m agnitude 9.0 earthquake and the associated gigantic tsunam i were unforeseen.
• M axim um run-up heights greater than 10 m are distributed along 530 km o f coast and m axim um run-up heights greater than 20 m are distributed along 200 km o f coast measured directly. The highest run up height was 40 m.
• 535km 2 o f land area was inundated over a coastline o f about 2400 km.
• M any coastal tsunam i protecting structures were
destroyed; 190 km o f coastal dikes and sea walls (out o f a total o f 300 km o f such structures) in the
Tohoku region were fully or partly destroyed.
• M uch o f the critical infrastructure such as disaster m anagem ent centers, city-governm ent halls, fire stations, railways, ports, airports, hospitals, and schools was destroyed by the tsunami.
• Power outages occurred in wide geographic areas and over long tim e periods.
• A m ajor tsunam i w arning was issued by the Japan M eteorological Agency (JMA) w ithin 3 m inutes, but the initial w arning underestim ated the size o f the tsunam i. JM A subsequently updated the warnings, however in some locations public com m unication systems were damaged by the earthquake hindering dissemination.
• According to the report by the Japan Central Disaster M anagem ent Council (28 September 2011) the underestim ated tsunam i w arning delayed im m ediate evacuation in some cases. In other cases com m unities assumed they were safe due to the existence o f tsunam i sea walls and didn’t evacuate.
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Based on the inform ation provided by the surveys
and perform ance analyses, the sym posium provided a
num ber o f high level perspectives that addressed:
• Event facts and analysis.
• Tsunam i W arning Systems, tsunam i preparedness
and event experiences.
• Lessons learned from this event that have policy
implications for im proving tsunam i detection,
warning, com m unity education, planning
and response.
The Sym posium : Lessons Learned and Policy Im plicationsThe sym posium was organized in five sessions, each
including presentations and a subsequent panel
discussion am ong presenters and invited panelists. For
each o f the sessions the m ain synthesis o f the lessons
learned and policy implications are provided below.
Details about the program m e, presenters and panelists
are available in R ef 2.
Session 1:W hat happened during the Tsunami o f11 March 2011? W hat was unexpected?W hat is a new strategy to prepare forthe unexpected?
• Early self-evacuation is o f m ajor im portance,
particularly if a strong earthquake is felt or if the
earthquake is weak but w ith slow tremors that
continue for a long time. It is no t necessary to
wait for an official evacuation order.
• Tsunam i drills and exercises should include worst-
case scenarios; w ith due consideration o f seasonal
meteorological conditions and that prim ary
evacuation routes may be blocked.
• Reliable and back-up com m unication systems for
dissemination of tsunam i warnings are essential for
providing inform ation to the public and the media.
• Breakwaters and seawalls can not always protect
lives and property.
• Coastal structures and coastal planning should
be im plem ented in a holistic m anner that takes
into consideration the capacity and capability
o f the w arning system, land use planning and
coastal m itigation measures in order to optimize
protection o f life and property from earthquakes
and tsunamis.
• Tsunam i “m onum ents” can be helpful in passing
on the tsunam i experience to com ing generations.
Session 2:Run away from the Tsunami! Education in schools and communities. W hy do some people not evacuate?
• Awareness o f the risk o f tsunam i disaster can
reduce impacts and loss o f lives. Psychological
and sociological aspects should be taken into
consideration in developing education and
awareness materials.
• C ontinual tsunam i disaster education in schools
and at the com m unity level is essential to facilitate
effective com m unity response.
• Underestim ated tsunam i warnings do have an
im pact on people’s reaction; the content o f the
national tsunam i warnings m ust be examined
from recipients’ po in t o f view.
• Local tsunam i hazard maps w ith detailed
explanations should be developed in order to
enhance the residents’ tsunam i disaster awareness
and response during an event.
• Evacuation by car may be the only option possible
for people w ith lim ited mobility. In an evacuation
situation clear prioritization o f car usage is critical
to avoid traffic congestion and this should be taken
into consideration w hen developing evacuation
route maps.
• There is an ongoing need to better educate
com m unities about the tsunam i threat and the
associated risk to help manage expectations
about w hat w arning systems can do and
w hat the com m unities themselves m ust take
responsibility for.
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Session 3:Towards the improvement o f standard o p e r a t io n a l p ro ced u re (SO P ) o f Tsunami warning centers. W hat is an understandable and effective Tsunami warning?
• All tsunam i warnings need to be timely, as accurate as possible in the tim e available, brief and com prehendible to ensure appropriate com m unity response.
• Every tsunam i is different in character, w ith local tsunam is such as occurred on 11 M arch 2011 creating the greatest challenges due to the extremely short tim e available to detect and warn coastal com m unities.
• Enabling research and collaboration between the research and operational tsunam i com m unities should continue to reduce the tim e for determ ining reliable earthquake magnitudes, as well as increase the accuracy and space resolution for forecasts o f
possible tsunam i wave impacts, from local and distant earthquake sources.
• Broadband, high-dynam ic range seismometer measurements are necessary for rapid and precise analysis o f strong local tsunam igenic earthquakes
(m agnitude greater than 8.0).
• Analysis of real-time continuous GPS measurements is useful for determining earthquake dynamics; there is a need to develop this processing technique from research mode to operational mode.
• Offshore and coastal real-time sea level observations help to verify and modify warnings.
Session 4:W hat is the role o f mass media: Global media collaboration in response to natural hazards and preparedness?
• The essential role that mass m edia play during a disaster event is the broadcasting o f reliable inform ation for the safety o f the public.
• Inform ation can save lives. Therefore cooperation am ong m edia and between m edia and tsunam i w arning and emergency authorities
for broadcasting timely, reliable and accurate
inform ation is essential.
• Social m edia have a role in the collection and
distribution o f inform ation to/from the public,
but the inform ation requires the same verification
as any other source o f inform ation used by
journalists in order to be credible and reliable.
• For disaster related inform ation two essential keywords are reliability and accuracy. All
journalists are looking for reliable sources and for
authoritative inform ation provided by experts.
The cooperation established over the years between JM A and Japan Broadcasting Cooperation (N H K )
on tsunam i w arning dissem ination and response
is exemplary and is a model for others to follow.
Session 5:Strengthening international cooperation: What is the role o f international organizations?
IO C /U N E SC O with partner organizations must
continue to lead the coordination of global tsunami
warning systems, based on its experience and responsibility over more than five decades. This includes:
• Ensuring the robust, efficient and effective perform ance, and global coverage o f end-to-end,
interoperable w arning systems for coastal hazards,
operated by m andated national agencies, requires
intergovernm ental coordination in norm - and
standard setting.
• C ontinu ing to raise awareness about the tsunam i threat and to advocate why nations need to invest
in early w arning systems.
• Facilitating the exchange and sharing o f
inform ation on all facets o f end-to-end tsunam i
w arning systems, from tsunam i detection to
com m unity education response.
• C ontinu ing to provide for networking and
stim ulation o f education and m ulti-disciplinary
science and enabling research in support o f tsunam i w arning systems and m itigation efforts.
• Facilitating the provision o f data and inform ation to all countries.
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References(1) Report o f the C om m ittee for the Technical
Investigation on Counterm easures for Earthquakes and Tsunam is Based on the Lessons Learned from the “2011 off the Pacific coast o f Tohoku Earthquake” published by the C abinet Office o f the G overnm ent o f Japan 28 September 2011, h t t p : / / w w w .b o u s a i .g o . j p / j i s h i n / c h u b o u / h igash in ihon /R eport.pd f
(2) h ttp ://ioc-tsunam i.org/tohokusym posium
Speakers and PanelistsKouji Ikeuchi, Fum ihiko Im am ura, Takayoshi Iwata, O sam u Kamigaichi, Shunichi Koshimura, Takehiko
Kusaba, Yutaka M ichida, Kiyoshi N atori, Shigeo O chi, Isoo Sasaki, Kenji Satake, Naoya Sekiya,
Masashi Suenaga, Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Shinya Ejima, H ideki Yamaguchi, H iroshi Yarai
Régis Arnaud, Rick Bailey, Eddie Bernard, M aria Ana
Baptista, David Coetzee, M arsha Cooke, Lori Dengier, M artin Fackler, Hélène Hébert, Akira Ikegami,
Lom a Inniss, Daniel Jaksa, Karl Kim, Ardito Kodijat, Peter Koltermann, Charles McCreery, M egumi
Nishikawa, Gerassimos Papadopoulos, Denis Peter, Irina Rafliana, Fadi Salameh, François Schindelé, David
Tappin, W endy Watson-Wright, N oboru Yamazaki
O rganising C om m itteeThorkild Aarup, Bernardo Aliaga, Tony Elliott, M asahiro Yamamoto
Acknow ledgem entsCornelia H auke, Srikantha H erath, Kaori M asuda, H ideyuki M ohri, Yuki N akano, Julie Saito, Yoshie Sawada, Kazuko Yamamoto, M ari Yamamoto
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S'or* «i
Tsunam i m onum ent at U nosum ai-chou near Kamaishi (Iwate Prefecture) com m em orating the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunam i o f 11 M arch 2011. The inscription at the bo ttom o f the m onum ent reads: “M emorial Stone o f the Tsunami! Just run. Run Uphill! D on’t worry about the others. Save yourself first. A n d tell the fu ture generations that a Tsunami once reached this point. A n d that those who survived were those who ran. Uphill. So run! Run uphill!”.
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U nited N ations * IntergovernmentalEducational, Scientific a n d j O ceanog raph ic
Cultural O rgan iza tion ] Commission
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