SEARCH AND RESCUE, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AFTER JAPAN’S EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DISASTER THE DAYS AND WEEKS FOLLOWING THE MARCH 12 TH EARTHQUAKE / TSUNAMI IN JAPAN Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

THE NEED STARTED AT 2:46 PM, MARCH 11, 2011 In a matter of minutes, the M8.9 earthquake and its accompanying tsunami and large aftershocks caused a catastrophe and created an invisible threat of radiation for search and rescue in Japan

TSUNAMI WAVES DEVASTATE COAST OF NORTHERN JAPAN

A CATASTROPHE Japan’s social, technical, administrative, political, legal, health care, and economic systems were tested to their limits by the nature, degree, and extent of the impacts of the earthquake and tsunami..

SOCIETAL IMPACTS Ground shaking from the main shock (which lasted about 300 seconds) and the hundreds of aftershocks (many in the M6+ range) damaged homes, buildings, essential facilities, nuclear facilities, and critical lifelines (e.g., transportation infrastructure) over a wide area.

SOCIETAL IMPACTS The tsunami, which following within about 10 minutes, changed Japan’s coast lines, inundated land and urban areas, swept people and cars away, left tons of debris, created the potential for water borne diseases, hindered search and rescue operations, and stalled Japan’s economic productivity.

SOCIETAL IMPACTS The explosion in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility and radiation levels that were 1,000 times normal levels created a nightmare disaster scenario that included radiation release and possible nuclear melt down for the Government of Japan.

URGENT NEED FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE With so many people (about 20,000) missing over a wide area after the tsunami, Search and rescue was an urgent need and imperative.

JAPAN’S SEARCH AND RESCUE Approximately 50,000 members of Japan’s Self Defense Forces were mobilized immediately to the hardest hit areas.

JAPAN’S SEARCH AND RESCUE Tokushu Kyuunan Tai, the search and rescue unit of the Japan Coast Guard was dispatched to accelerate search and rescue operations..

MILITARY HELP WITH EVACUATIONS Approximately 300,000 people (with more expected) were evacuated from areas damaged in the quake by military personnel; all need food, water, medicine, and electricity.

SEARCH AND RESCUE

INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN The USA’s Los Angeles County search and rescue team will assist in Japan. The USA’s Fairfax County's Urban Search and Rescue team will assist in Japan.

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE Humanitarian assistance is being pledged or dispatched to Japan by many countries to mitigate the possibility of thousands of deaths, and to provide specialized health care in the light of possible water borne diseases and the effects of high radiation levels and a possible “nuclear melt down.”

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE: SUNDAY, MARCH 13 The USS Ronald Reagan was dispatched immediately to Japan and, at the request of the Japanese Government, made helicopters available and began assisting in urgent search and rescue missions. USA marines, already there, are assisting in search and rescue missions.

INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN 90 medical teams from Medecins Sans Frontieres arrived on Sunday and are being deployed in the Miyagi Prefecture.

INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN Israel’s search and rescue team will assist in Japan. New Zealand’s search and rescue team will assist in Japan.

INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN German teams arrived on Sunday to assist in Japan. Teams from China arrived on Sunday to assist in Japan.

INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS JOIN IN USAID, at the request of the Japanese Government, has deployed search and rescue missions.