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What is the European view? I have been told time and time again in the German media that Japan is prepared for disasters like this as good as one can be prepare
by ugh 16y ago
What is the European view? I have been told time and time again in the German media that Japan is prepared for disasters like this as good as one can be prepared, that they know exactly what to do [0] and that everyone is coping with it without much fuss. I have also seen several maps of the affected regions, showing clearly that not all of Japan is affected. The blog article wasn’t that surprising to me and seemed very much congruent with media reports (at least in Germany).
Still, several thousand people died in the third biggest economic power in the world, that’s obviously going to get a lot of coverage and moms are going to call because that’s how moms are.
[0] Approximate quote from one report I saw: “There’s no student who doesn’t get to take a ride on the earthquake simulator, no kindergartner who doesn’t learn how high tsunami waves can become.”
- mantas 16y agoAt least in Lithuanian mass media coverage in one sentence is "Shit did hit the fan". And featured article in biggest news website this weekend is notice issued by National Nuclear Smth saying nuclear stuff shouldn't hit us. Probably. I haven't seen single article in local media saying how well Japanese survived the earthquake/tsunami. It's more about how shitty situation (usually with ever-rising dead/missing headcount) is and rat-race to find worse pictures of post-apocalyptic Japan.
- ugh 16y agoShit did actually hit the fan. Several thousand people are dead. It could have been much worse but it is bad.
- HSO 16y ago> It could have been much worse but it is bad. Guess the glass can be half-empty or half-full. FWIW, I'm also sitting in Germany and I'm mighty impressed by the Japanese response. It's bad but it could have been much worse.
- ugh 16y agoI did not in any way say that the Japanese response was inadequate or even merely ok and I have seen nobody in the media making a statement to that effect (nuclear incident excluded – but that’s mostly about the lack of information and contradictory information). Saying that the situation in the affected areas in Japan (which, even relative to Japan’s size, is quite a large area) is most certainly bad is in itself not at all a criticism of the Japanese response and I’m a bit baffled at how you could get that impression. There are certain things no diligent and excellent preparation can currently prevent (as evidenced by the horrible death toll).
- HSO 16y agoHmpf, I suppose this is a misunderstanding. I was just "playing" with your last sentence. I did not get that impression and certainly didn't (intend to) put words in your mouth.
- brazzy 16y agoFor a comparison of how bad it could have been, you just have to look 6 years back at Indonesia. The quake had pretty exactly the same strength, so I'd assume the tsunami was roughly as powerful. The result: more than 10 times the death toll in an (I think) much less densely populated area. The effort and money Japan is able and willing to spend on earthquake/tsunami preparation has most certainly had a big effect. Even if devastation in the worst-hit areas is complete, a lot of people probably escaped because of the infrastructure and drills.
- ugh 16y agoArrrg! Why is nobody understanding me? My intention was never to even hint at any deficiencies in Japanese preparedness. But, well, shit did hit the fan! I don’t know what else I should call the death of several thousand people. Those deaths were probably unavoidable and certainly no humans are to blame for them. Between 100,000 and 300,000 people (the numbers are still very much unclear) were killed during the or in the aftermath of the much weaker earthquake in Haiti and if you look at other earthquakes you see similarly high death tolls – that tells me very clearly that Japan was extremely well prepared and I never for one second doubted that.
- brazzy 16y agoI think I understood you quite well, I was just agreeing with you :)