Some Lessons from Kobe earthquake Sep. 23, 1999 Izumi Aizu Asia Network Research

Kobe Quake and the Net The Net used for information sharing It did not help save lives directly It helped people understand the situation It helped information to flow globally It helped information controlled by main actors, people, not media themselves It helped coordinate many voluntary actions

Internet connectivity Academic Net – local NOC went down Nat’l Univ. of Kobe – could not restore City Univ. – could restore soon Decided to change routing – without approval City government used the site Mirror site started in Osaka & Nara They could not handle massive traffic Kobe City Univ. could – by 480MB of memory

ISPs around Kobe Most POPs were damaged Telco (NTT) did not give priorities Many Free special web-sites, links, and bulletin boards offered by ISP/Online services Fund-raising online

Kobe City Government Multimedia Promotion Project was already in place before the quake, City had its own website – (for tourism) Decided to cover disaster directly Took video pictures, convert into digital, uploaded to the web on the 2 nd day Focus: provide accurate, objective information to the world, overcome sensational, negative coverage by Press

Kobe City Government (cont ’ d) Skills already acquired Individual efforts led the works Many responses from overseas Long-lasting effort

Information about damages Provide comprehensive data, not partial Objective, not biased Status information about damages telephone, power, gas, etc. All names of victims, on Internet legal procedure? responsibility? voluntary effort character code sets / graphic image Names of survivors (privacy consideration needed)

Information to Support Support Works Inquiry numbers Logistical support, know-hows what are needed how to send Information for citizens official documentation, schedule of events, etc. Mental support/health

‘ Information Volunteer ’ Acted as intermediary made copies of notices, flyers, then distributed by bikes, etc. Relay critical information to the homeless/damaged people in shelters These people want to know ‘what’s going on?, when? etc.’ but has little measures They don’t have access to the Net

Bottom-up journalism Some started to report on their own over the Net regularly Not relying on mass-media More local, personal and human Stories, not only facts Tried to encourage people