70 Pct in Japan Underprepared for Future Disasters

Tokyo, March 10 (Jiji Press)–A recent survey found that 69.2 pct of the respondents have taken no or only insufficient measures to prepare for possible future disasters similar to the March 2011 powerful earthquake and tsunami. According to the Japanese Red Cross Society survey conducted online Jan. 9-12 for 1,200 people aged 10-69 across Japan, 84.1 pct said they think that a disaster on par with the March 11, 2011, quake and tsunami will happen in the future. But 20.3 pct said they are not prepared at all for such a disaster, and 48.9 pct said their measures are insufficient. Meanwhile, 20.5 pct said that they are prepared fully or somewhat. The proportion of respondents who said they are not sure came to 10.3 pct. “Although it is difficult to prepare for disasters that may exceed our expectations, it is important to consider what we lack,” an official of the organization said. “We hope to help raise people’s awareness (of the importance of taking measures to reduce disaster damage) by offering related seminars,” the official said. In a question asking whether the 2011 disaster affected their lives, 62.5 pct said it did. With multiple answers allowed, 53.6 pct of them, the largest share, said they realized the importance of disaster preparedness, followed by 50.3 pct who said they learned how precious life is. Additionally, the survey found that 28.1 pct think the lessons from the 2011 disaster are not being utilized in current disaster measures. Asked about the reasons, 35.0 pct said that similar problems arise each time a disaster occurs. The March 2011 disaster, which mainly hit the Tohoku northeastern Japan region, has left some 15,900 people dead and about 2,500 others missing. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]