Research on earthquake disasters and physical geography

Abstract

The Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011 has posed questions for geographers concerning their awareness of and the contributions they can make to reducing damage in the future and to regional reconstruction in the wake of the gigantic devastation throughout the region, caused by the earthquake disaster. There have been two periods or intense seismic activity in the western Pacific region. The first was during the period of the 1920s to the 1930s, and the other is from 1995 up to the present. Severe earthquake damage has occurred in Japan twice in 1925, in 1927, and in 1995; in Taiwan in 1935 and 1999; and in New Zealand in 1931 and 2011, all caused by inland earthquakes. The author has examined severe earthquake damage in the western Pacific Rim from a geomorpho-logical viewpoint. Based on research of historical earthquake damage that occurred in the region, some important lessons were obtained and can be summarized as follows 1). Multi-scale analysis is essential for analyzing earthquake damage to buildings and its causes. Such analysis is also necessary for programs to mitigate damage that can be adapted to the appropriate scale. 2). In order to mitigate direct damage by surface faulting we need to legislate land use controls in active fault zones. Additionally, an earthquake memorial museum should not only be for memorializing tragedy but also for education and as a tourist destination, and it needs to have content that is substantial. 3). Governmental organizations for rehabilitation should be set up quickly after a disaster, and a comprehensive plan for reconstruction of a safer and more beautiful town must be presented as quickly as possible. 4). It is necessary to move forward with research that grasps the entire process from the occurrence of an earthquake disaster up until reconstruction and includes an internationally comparative perspective.