20-Year Retrospective on the Kobe Earthquake

What heals all wounds? Time does. Time also obscures the scars that were created by disasters, both physical and sometimes in the collective memory of people. Check out this editorial: Enhanced vigilance against natural disasters cannot be overstated.

It has been 20 years since the Kobe earthquake in Japan. Here are some of the things to ponder for your own location and mix of hazards:

• The Great Hanshin earthquake struck on Jan. 17 20 years ago, claiming 6,434 lives in Kobe and surrounding areas.
• More than 40 percent of Kobe's inhabitants were either born or moved to the city after the earthquake.
• About 65 percent of the respondents [today] said they had never taken part in a disaster drill.
• Asked how the community has managed to continue such efforts so long, Takashige Kiyohara, a 65-year-old local community leader, wasted no words, saying, "It's our profound anxiety about disasters to come."
• In the 1995 disaster, about 80 percent of the people who were rescued from rubble were actually dug out by family members and neighbors.
• Fire engines were useless in most of the city as roads were blocked in many places. The quake brutally underscored the limit of what public institutions can do to help people in such situations.
• The most effective way to deal with such risks is to enhance disaster preparation initiatives of local communities. Schools certainly have an important role to play here.
• If every child learned about such matters, topics related to natural disasters could be discussed more at home, motivating family members to think about them together.
• Damage from disasters can never be completely prevented. However, efforts to mitigate damage can and should be started at once.

These are just a few of the highlights. There are some success stories in the editorial too. When is the last time you read something like this in a newspaper where you live?

Claire Rubin shared the link above.