Earthquakes (and other disasters)

From my first guidance for new students session, which i had during my first week here in Tokyo: what to do in case of an earthquake:

1. protect yourself (0-2min)
2. prevent fires (2-5min)
3. secure safety of family (5-10min)
4. cooperate with neighbours&non-Japanese friends (10min-12hrs)
5. be prepared to survive on your own (water, food, shelter etc.) (12hrs-2weeks)

Time in () is time after the earthquake.
ad 1.: e.g. get under a table.
There are places where emergency supplies are stored in each community, but one should also prepare supplies oneself. I'm also attending a lecture called "Earthquake Engineering", quite interesting.
After one of the big quakes, it took them only three days to get electricity back, but sewage system took two weeks. Fortunately there was a river near which was used as a temporary, uhm, disposal of personal excrements facility :)

Just had a session here where my research mates introduced us to Japanese geography. Some facts:

• Japan has 6852 islands, out of which about 400 are inhabited
• its area is about the same as Germany, and about 1/10 of China
• 2/3 of land is forest, 3/4 is mountain
• "Nihon alps" are similar to European alps :)

If the earthquake introduction didn't scare you, there's more:

• volcanic activity: lots and lots, same reason as for quakes. Saw a nice pic of gas/ash cloud coming down a mountain. >1000 degC, moving with 700 km/h. Blaster!
• if Fuji-san explodes, Tokyo will be in deep, deep trouble...
• floods: 98% of all Japanese cities have had more than 10 floods. In the last 10 years!

All in all, a great place to study disasters ;) and now i also understand better why disaster management is emphasized a lot in the lectures here at the civil engineering department that i am a part of now.

Japan: Interesting place, that much's for sure!