[After the Kobe Japan Japan
By James Glanz And Norimitsu Onishi
Hidden inside the skeletons of high-rise towers, extra steel bracing, giant rubber pads and embedded hydraulic shock absorbers make modern Japanese buildings among the sturdiest in the world during a major earthquake. And all along the Japanese coast, tsunami warning signs, towering seawalls and well-marked escape routes offer some protection from walls of water.
These precautions, along with earthquake and tsunami drills that are routine for every Japanese citizen, show why Japan is the best-prepared country in the world for the twin disasters of earthquake and tsunami — practices that undoubtedly saved lives, though the final death toll is unknown.
In Japan United States
After the Kobe Japan Japan
The isolation devices are essentially giant rubber-and-steel pads that are installed at the very bottom of the excavation for a building, which then simply sits on top of the pads. The dissipation units are built into a building’s structural skeleton. They are hydraulic cylinders that elongate and contract as the building sways, sapping the motion of energy.
Of course, nothing is entirely foolproof. Structural engineers monitoring the events from a distance cautioned that the death toll was likely to rise as more information became available. Dr. Jack Moehle, a structural engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, said that video of the disaster seemed to show that some older buildings had indeed collapsed.
The country that gave the world the word tsunami, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, built concrete seawalls in many communities, some as high as 40 feet, which amounted to its first line of defense against the water. In some coastal towns, in the event of an earthquake, networks of sensors are set up to set off alarms in individual residences and automatically shut down floodgates to prevent waves from surging upriver.
Critics of the seawalls say they are eyesores and bad for the environment. The seawalls, they say, can instill a false sense of security among coastal residents and discourage them from participating in regular evacuation drills. Moreover, by literally cutting residents’ visibility of the ocean, the seawalls reduce their ability to understand the sea by observing wave patterns, critics say.
Waves from Friday’s tsunami spilled over some seawalls in the affected areas. “The tsunami roared over embankments in Sendai city, washing cars, houses and farm equipment inland before reversing directions and carrying them out to sea,” according to a statement by a Japanese engineer, Kit Miyamoto, circulated by the American Society of Civil Engineers. “Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.”
But Japan’s “massive public education program” could in the end have saved the most lives, said Rich Eisner, a retired tsunami preparedness expert who was attending a conference on the topic at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., on Friday.
In one town, Ofunato, which was struck by a major tsunami in 1960, dozens of signs in Japanese and English mark escape routes, and emergency sirens are tested three times a day, Mr. Eisner said.
Initial reports from Ofunato on Friday suggested that hundreds of homes had been swept away; the death toll was not yet known. But Matthew Francis of URS Corporation and a member of the civil engineering society’s tsunami subcommittee, said that education may have been the critical factor.
“For a trained population, a matter of 5 or 10 minutes is all you may need to get to high ground,” Mr. Francis said.
That would be in contrast to the much less experienced Southeast Asians, many of whom died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami because they lingered near the coast. Reports in the Japanese news media indicate that people originally listed as missing in remote areas have been turning up in schools and community centers, suggesting that tsunami education and evacuation drills were indeed effective.
Unlike Haiti China Sichuan Japan California Berkeley Japan
The difference, Mr. Moehle said, comes about because the United States Japan
New apartment and office developments in Japan San Francisco
“You can increase the rents by providing a sort of warranty — ‘If you locate here you’ll be safe,’ ” Mr. Hamburger said.
Although many older buildings in Japan Kobe
Mr. Miyamoto, the Japanese engineer, described a nation in chaos as the quake also damaged or disabled many elements of the transportation system. He said that he and his family were on a train near the Ikebukuro station when the earthquake struck. Writing at 1:30 a.m. , he said that “we are still not far from where the train stopped.”
“Japan Railway actually closed down the stations and sent out all commuters into the cold night,” he said. “They announced that they are concerned about structural safety. Continuous aftershocks make me feel like car sickness as my family and I walk on the train tracks.”
[Royal Enfield India
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Indian musicians welcome guests to the Golden Chariot train at Yesvanthpur Station in Bangalore. In transport as in most things in India, the old co-exists with the modern, providing tourists with numerous entertaining ways to travel in the bygone style of the last century.… Read more » |
The majority of visitors on a quick break to the country opt to get around on new budget airlines and air-conditioned SUVs, missing out on some of the iconic old technology that lives on in India
On the roads, the elder statesmen of Royal Enfield motorbikes and Ambassador cars, both based on almost unchanged 1950s British technology, are still in production and continue to jostle for space with their modern competitors.
On the railways, a half dozen "heritage" trains criss-cross the country, transporting passengers in former colonial splendour with liveried staff, wood-pannelled carriages and luxury sleeper cabins.
Tracey Forbes and her husband decided to go "retro" during their recent trip to India Agra Varanasi
"For me the old-style glamour of the Ambassador outweighs a modern car every time," the 48-year-old semi-retired therapist told AFP. "I'd advise anyone to grab the chance while they can -- modern cars are two-a-penny."
Hindustan Motors, India
Each year brings new predictions of the car's ultimate demise, but the workhorse remains popular with taxi drivers, politicians and, fortunately for tourists, car hire outlets which can be easily found online.
"It reminds me of bygone days when men wore hats and ties and ladies wore gloves and dresses with big skirts," said Forbes, whose driver charges about 50 dollars a day.
"It's a thing of beauty -- so often these days beauty is sacrificed for functionality or simply because it's not economically viable."
Fellow Brit John Mallace decided to pilot his own vehicle, taking on the chaotic and anarchic Indian roads abreast a Royal Enfield motorcycle during a 12-day holiday in the southwestern beach state of Goa .
As a traffic policeman, he was horrified by the wilful disregard for road safety, but had nothing but praise for the sturdy bike, famed for its chrome and deep "thumper" sound generated from its single-cylinder engine.
Royal Enfield India
"It's pretty comfy and it handles really well," said the 46-year-old, who opted for an organised tour to see the "real India Goa rather than the famed beaches.
The trip was organised by Blazing Trails, owned by British Enfield fanatic Susie I'Anson who takes groups of riders on a handful of circuits across the country from the high Himalayas to the tropical deep south.
She says her clients are often people with a past link to India India
"It's got Old World charm," I'Anson explained to AFP. "And you're not racing around. You're just pottering along in a comfortable position.
"Some people come and start whingeing about missing their BMW bike at home, but at the end of two weeks, they've got full respect for the Enfield
Organised tours with Blazing Trails start at 2,000 pounds (3,200 dollars), but travellers can opt to buy or hire bikes for less locally.
For those unwilling to tackle India
There are at least six services, including the Deccan Odyssey in western Maharashtra , the Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan and the Golden Chariot in southern Karnataka.
The most recent service is the Maharajas' Express, the most luxurious and expensive train service to date, which was launched last March to accommodate just 84 passengers on trips all over the country.
"Rajasthan is the most popular route in India
Most of the clients are foreign, he says, with the financial means to pay the high prices of 3,000-4,500 dollars for a seven-night tour.
Some trains such as Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan can be booked for shorter three-night stays at a cost of 500 dollars a night.
More details on Tracey Forbes's trip in an Ambassador can be found at: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-485874.html
