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Earthquakes
Tsunami
Typhoons and Floods
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Earthquakes
It is well known that earthquakes are common in Japan, and they are in fact particularly frequent in Iwate. However, as most of the prefecture lies on a solid granite foundation centred around the Kitakami Highlands, the damage from these quakes is comparatively minor.
However, as we were all strongly reminded in 1995 by the disastrous Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in and around Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, earthquakes both large and small strike without warning. It is important to take steps in our daily lives to prepare ourselves for such an eventuality.
○Prepare in advance
･Find out where the evacuation point closest to your home is.
･Decide a place to meet with your family if you have to evacuate.
･Check whether any of your furniture is liable to topple over.
･Check whether there are any dangerous areas near your home.
･If there are any elderly, frail, disabled or incapacitated individuals in your family or in the neighbourhood, be prepared to help them.
○Prepare emergency packs and decide where they will be stored (emergency rations,
first aid supplies, clothes, bank books, name seals, radios, flashlights [torches],
etc).
○In the event of an earthquake it is important to stay calm.
･If you are indoors, open doors and windows so that you will not be trapped inside.
･Even during major earthquakes tremors normally last only about a minute, so stay calm and hide under a table.
･Extinguish fires.
○Evacuate calmly.
･Walk, do not use a car or other vehicles. Keep your belongings to a minimum so that you can move around easily.
･Be alert for falling objects and unstable or collapsing buildings.
･Get your information using TV and radio; do not be mislead by rumours and untruths.
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●Meteorological Agency Earthquake Classifications
| Magnitude |
Description |
| 1 |
Can be felt slightly indoors
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| 2 |
Ceiling lamps and other suspended objects swing slightly
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| 3 |
Crockery on shelves may rattle
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| 4 |
Suspended objects will swing wildly; unstable objects may fall over
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| 5 weak |
Most unstable objects will fall over; windows may crack and break
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| 5 strong |
TVs may fall from stands; unreinforced concrete-block walls and gravestones may topple over
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| 6 weak |
Some wooden buildings may collapse; cracks in the earth and landslides may occur
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| 6 strong |
Wall tiles and windows will break and fall off; some iron-reinforced concrete buildings may collapse
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| 7 |
Most buildings will tilt or collapse; landslides, cracks in the earth, and other geological disasters will occur
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