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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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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