Lessons to learn from Japan disaster, 10 years on

MARCH marks the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. While such natural disasters are an age-old threat, the 2011 catastrophe raised a growing challenge for policy makers of how best to care for survivors in large urban areas dislocated by a severe event.

The 2011 disaster began on March 11 with an 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The quake triggered powerful tsunami waves that may have reached heights of up to 40m and travelled at 700km an hour for up to 10km inland in some places.

The quake had numerous similarities to the 8.5 magnitude one which struck Japan in 1896. Then, around 27,000 people are estimated to have been killed by the tremors and the subsequent tsunami which was around 25m high.