SEARCH AND RESCUE, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AFTER JAPAN

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SEARCH AND RESCUE, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
AFTER JAPANS EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DISASTER

• THE DAYS AND WEEKS FOLLOWING THE MARCH 12TH
• EARTHQUAKE / TSUNAMI IN JAPAN

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster
Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA
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THE NEED STARTED AT 246 PM, MARCH 11, 2011
In a matter of minutes, the M8.9 earthquake and
its accompanying tsunami and large aftershocks
caused a catastrophe and created an invisible
threat of radiation for search and rescue in Japan
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TSUNAMI WAVES DEVASTATE COAST OF NORTHERN JAPAN
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A CATASTROPHE

• Japans social, technical, administrative,
  political, legal, health care, and economic
  systems were tested to their limits by the
  nature, degree, and extent of the impacts of the
  earthquake and tsunami..

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SOCIETAL IMPACTS

• Ground shaking from the main shock (which lasted
  about 300 seconds) and the hundreds of
  aftershocks (many in the M6 range) damaged
  homes, buildings, essential facilities, nuclear
  facilities, and critical lifelines (e.g.,
  transportation infrastructure) over a wide area.

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SOCIETAL IMPACTS

• The tsunami, which following within about 10
  minutes, changed Japans 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 Japans economic
  productivity.

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SOCIETAL IMPACTS

• The explosion in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
  facility and radiation levels that were 1,000
  times normal levels created a nightmare disaster
  scenario that included radiation release and
  possible nuclear melt down for the Government of
  Japan.

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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 an urgent need and imperative.

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JAPANS SEARCH AND RESCUE

• Approximately 50,000 members of Japans Self
  Defense Forces were mobilized immediately to the
  hardest hit areas.

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JAPANS SEARCH AND RESCUE

• Tokushu Kyuunan Tai, the search and rescue unit
  of the Japan Coast Guard was dispatched to
  accelerate search and rescue operations..

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MILITARY HELP WITH EVACUATIONS

• Approximately 300,000 people (with more expected)
  were evacuated from areas damaged in the quake
  by military personnel all need food, water,
  medicine, and electricity.

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SEARCH AND RESCUE
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INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN

• The USAs Los Angeles County search and rescue
  team will assist in Japan.
• The USAs Fairfax County's Urban Search and
  Rescue team will assist in Japan.

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HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

• Humanitarian assistance is being pledged or
  dispatched to Japan by many countries to mitigate
  the possibility of thousands of deaths, and to
  provide specialized health care in the light of
  possible water borne diseases and the effects of
  high radiation levels and a possible nuclear
  melt down.

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HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE SUNDAY, MARCH 13

• The USS Ronald Reagan was dispatched immediately
  to Japan and, at the request of the Japanese
  Government, made helicopters available and began
  assisting in urgent search and rescue missions.
• USA marines, already there, are assisting in
  search and rescue missions.

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INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN

• 90 medical teams from Medecins Sans Frontieres
  arrived on Sunday and are being deployed in the
  Miyagi Prefecture.

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INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN

• Israels search and rescue team will assist in
  Japan.
• New Zealands search and rescue team will assist
  in Japan.

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INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN

• German teams arrived on Sunday to assist in
  Japan.
• Teams from China arrived on Sunday to assist in
  Japan.

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INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN

• USAID, at the request of the Japanese Government,
  has deployed search and rescue missions.