Abstract
The shocking images of The Great East Japan Earthquake were relayed live to the whole world. It seems to be the first time that, through on the spot broadcasting, a massive horror like this was broadcasted live to the world. This disaster, therefore, looks like an unheard-of dire calamity in Japan. Unquestionably, this earthquake was disastrous, however, it is merely one example of the many tragedies through which Japan has experienced hardship and privation. In this chapter, we take a general view of the history of tragedy in Japan and also review The Great East Japan Earthquake as an example of a disaster. As this was the first experience of this type of a nuclear power station accident caused by an earthquake, we also comment on the details and the future outlook regarding accidents at nuclear power stations.
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Notes
- 1.
Note: Mt. Ontake (3067 m) caused hydro volcanic explosions on September-27-2014, after the writing of this chapter came to an end. Unfortunately, since the tragedy happened at noon (11:52) on Saturday in autumn tourist season, there were many victims from it. Now it began to snow, and the search of missing hikers has been suspended. At the present moment, 57 people were confirmed dead, and it is supposed that there are still 6 missing people. According to the past record of Mt. Ontake, 29 people died by sector collapse due to an earthquake in 1984.
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Fukushima Prefecture: Information sites on radioactive contamination/Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: Statistics sites/Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: Statistics sites/Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism: Statistics sites/Ministry of the Environment: Statistics sites/Reconstruction Agency: Statistics sites/Meteorological Agency
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Ito, T., Itoh, Y. (2016). The Great East Japan Earthquake in the Context of Historical Catastrophes in Japan. In: Hoppe, A. (eds) Catastrophes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20846-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20846-6_2
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