Disaster Prevention Check-up

1. Protect your head with something like a cushion nearby and hide under a table or desk.
2. Switch off the main electricity board and shut the gas cock.
3. Get out of the building as soon as possible.
4. Turn off the gas appliances and stoves to prevent secondary disasters.
5. Unplug the electrical appliances.
6. Secure the emergency exits.

1. When you feel a strong tremor inside the building you are in, you have to go outside as soon as you can and secure your safety.
2. When you find just a small fire due to an earthquake, it is safer to leave the small fire behind and find refuge in a shelter to avoid the danger of aftershocks.
3. When you have to find refuge and live at a shelter for a long time due to a serious earthquake, it is quite convenient to transport necessary utensils by car.
4. Although, generally speaking, there are no bigger aftershocks than the earthquake, you have to be careful about the collapse of buildings that were damaged by the earthquake.
5. When you feel a big tremor while you are on a train, you have to go outside as soon as possible by pushing the emergency button after the train stops.
6. When the necessary information is not available due to a big earthquake, you have to call the fire department and police station to get the precise information and avoid the confusion due to misinformation.
7. Even after a small earthquake, a big tsunami, (a seismic sea wave), might come. So you have to move to a higher place.
8. Ships on the ocean will not be bottomed up by tsunami because the height of a tsunami wave off shore is just 1 meter and the fluctuation period of the wave is relatively long. However you have to pay attention to the danger of being thrown off the ship.
9. While you are driving, it will be difficult to drive safely when you encounter a tremor with an intensity bigger than 5 on the Japanese seven-stage seismic scale.
10. If you are high up in a building, you can go out and find refuge quickly by using elevators or escalators.

• Fire due to the restart of the electricity supply ( __ )
• Slow and Large earthquake ( __ )
• Magnitude ( __ )
• Telephone system congestion ( __ )
• Lifeline ( __ )
• Liquefaction ( __ )

1. When a fault moves slower than in a normal earthquake, this type of earthquake will happen. The size of the gap created will be greater and we can hardly feel a tremor. It will cause a big tsunami if the epicenter is in the ocean.
2. In serious disasters, a lot of people are worried about their families and try to call them. The telephone lines will be busy and congested with many calls.
3. This means the essential facilities and systems for city life such as electricity, water, gas and telephone.
4. When the sandy foundation areas such as old rivers and landfills suffer strong earthquake tremors, the whole foundation might be liquefied by the eruption of water from underground and the buildings on the foundation become unstable, lean and collapse.
5. When the electricity supply is resumed, this type of fire will occur due to leaving the electrical appliances on. It is important for us to switch off the main electricity board when we take refuge.

Memo: In an earthquake bigger than 6, tiles on the wall and windows will break and less resistant buildings will collapse. People cannot keep standing and have to crawl to move during the tremor.

-10 things to remember to do in an earthquake!-

1. Secure your safety.
2. Don't panic, and put out any fires.
3. Make sure to keep the exit open.
4. Extinguish any small fires quickly.
5. Do not hurry to go outside.
6. Keep away from narrow roads, walls, cliffs and rivers.
7. Get information about the situation surrounding you.
8. Take refuge in shelters on foot with minimum necessities.
9. Help each other and perform the emergency rescue operations.
10. Gather the correct information.