The quake occurred shortly before 10 p.m. on September 17th in waters near the Tokara island chain and its depth was very shallow, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, adding it measured lower 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in Toshima, Kagoshima Prefecture.
Individual evacuation plans are plans that determine in advance where and how elderly and disabled people who have difficulty evacuating on their own will evacuate in the event of a disaster. It has been four years since municipalities became obligated to create individual evacuation plans, but a national summary has revealed that only just over 10% of municipalities have created plans for most of the residents who are eligible. It has been a legal obligation for all municipalities for the past four years.
Individual evacuation plans are plans that determine in advance where and how elderly and disabled people who have difficulty evacuating on their own will evacuate in the event of a disaster. It has been four years since municipalities became obligated to create individual evacuation plans, but a national summary has revealed that only just over 10% of municipalities have created plans for most of the residents who are eligible. It has been a legal obligation for all municipalities for the past four years.
About 27,600 people still live as evacuees 14 years after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and monster tsunami caused tremendous disasters, including a nuclear accident, mainly in the Tohoku region, northeastern Japan. As of Feb. 1, 27,615 afflicted people had yet to return home, the Reconstruction Agency said. The earthquake occurred off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, measuring 7, the highest on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, in the prefecture while jolting the country almost entirely.
More than 5,400 people died in Japan over the past 30 years due to severe stress and exhaustion caused by evacuation following earthquakes and other natural disasters, according to a recent tally by Kyodo News. At least 5,456 “disaster-related deaths” have been recognized since local governments began such designation following the Great Hanshin Earthquake in western Japan on Jan. 17, 1995, with the figure including deaths linked to the Noto Peninsula quake last year.
The Japanese government’s Earthquake Research Committee has increased its assessed probability of an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 to 9 occurring along the Nankai Trough off the country’s Pacific coast within the next 30 years to some 80 pct from 70-80 pct, officials said. When a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Monday, the panel at the time concluded that Monday’s earthquake was not a phenomenon that could be considered to have relatively increased the possibility of a Nankai Trough earthquake occurring compared with normal times.
Concerns have been raised about the deaths of elderly people who died of “indirect causes” after they were evacuated, dying at care facilities. Jiji Press reported that as of Wednesday 25th December 2024 that “22 of 176 elderly evacuees from Ishikawa had died at elderly care facilities or elsewhere in Toyama, according to the Toyama Prefectural Government. In Aichi, 16 of 68 such evacuees died at care facilities or hospitals.
Concerns have been raised about the deaths of elderly people who died of “indirect causes” after they were evacuated, dying at care facilities. Jiji Press reported that as of Wednesday 25th December 2024 that “22 of 176 elderly evacuees from Ishikawa had died at elderly care facilities or elsewhere in Toyama, according to the Toyama Prefectural Government. In Aichi, 16 of 68 such evacuees died at care facilities or hospitals.”
A growing number of local governments in Japan are using a smartphone app to help visually impaired residents access critical information in the event of a natural disaster.
On the 10th, three staff members from the Prefectural Center for the Hearing Impaired drove around the homes of hearing-impaired people living in the city, where a seismic intensity of 6-low was observed in the earthquake on the 8th. The staff members used sign language to ask about damage caused by the earthquake and their concerns. Mitsuhira Kazuo, director of the Prefectural Center for the Deaf, who conducted the survey, said, “We don’t know when the next big earthquake will occur, so we went there to listen in detail. We would like to hear the honest feelings of disabled people in other areas of the prefecture as well.”
Barrier Free Japan