What To Do If The Next Big One Hits Tokyo

[gmat]

Interesting article in Japan Today;

http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/raising-your-chances-of-surviving-the-next-big-one

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[Eisenbahn]

Hi GMAT.....I expect there still  will be more aftershocks in Tokyo after the 11 March 2011 incident.  For westerners in Tokyo who dont speak Japanese, it is not a bad idea to carry a pocket radio. The  American Armed Forces Network transmits 24/7 in English on 810am.  After a quake, when you are roaming the streets of Tokyo in darkness you can at least get some information in English of where to get help....or when the tsunami will flood into Tokyo Bay..etc.... Of course, having an (unbreakable) flask of Suntory wiskey also helps...just find a quiet spot and wait for the sun to come up.

 

cheers.....Eisenbahn

[to2leo]

Thanks for the info as I will probably be in Tokyo around mid Oct.

[cteno4]

Lots of good common sense most of us from California know! this is why it was so sad to see the moves done here in the dc area with the little quake last year. everyone running out of buildings that are either all glass on the front or brick/stone facing! the other thing is to have the 3-5 day supply of food and water in some place quickly accessible incase you have to evacuate quickly and take it with you. usually best in your car boot. and dont forget the pet food!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[westfalen]

This bit got my attention, I always look at how accurately reporters treat railway related facts as a barometer of the credibility of the rest of the story.

 

"One of the worst places to be at the moment a quake hits the metropolis would be aboard the Shinkansen or a regular commuter train. “The accident on JR West Japan’s Fukuchiyama Line (in April 2005) is a good point of reference for derailment or overturning,” points out disaster consultant Takamasa Wada. “According to the accident report, most of the 107 fatalities were due to passengers being smothered or crushed to death; and most of these were in the two front cars.”"

 

I don't think using the Amagasaki crash as an example is right because it wasn't the result of an earthquake, even when trains have been derailed by earthquakes in the past they have generally remained upright and intact. In the big quake last year everyone walked away from the trains that were enroute in the area when the quake hit because within seconds of a quake being detected every train is stopped where it is so there is not much chance of hitting a damaged section of track at speed, I don't see any mention of that in the article. Were there any casualties on trains in the big quake that hit Kobe?

[bikkuri bahn]

Were there any casualties on trains in the big quake that hit Kobe?

 

AFAIK there were little to none, as the quake hit in the early morning hours before the morning rush.

[Martijn Meerts]

I guess the best advice when you're in Japan and a quake hits, is to just go with the flow. The Japanese likely know what to do ;)

[railsquid]

An amusing little earthquake tonight (M8.5), which occurred as I was standing on the Chuo Line platform at Kanda station. Was only shindo 4 on the local intensity scale, but manifested itself more as a powerful "wave" rather than the usual shaking. The Chuo line was suspended for about 15 minutes while checks were made (I saw a guy in workman's uniform walk along the platform peering at various things. The first train to depart ran very slowly (presumably with the driver peering out looking for catenary masts at suspicious angles etc.); at Yotsuya it was announced that the train in front had confirmed no problems from there on, so running recommenced at normal speeds. However the Yamanote Line was suspended completely for about 3 hours, as were many of the other north-south JR lines.

[Densha]

You wrote in another topic that the Yamanote line only started running again after 23:30h. Did they stop running again at ~24:00h or whenever the last scheduled train runs on that line? If they did, thousands of people shouldn't have been able to get to home, would they?

[railsquid]

Normal end-of-service is around 0100. I'm not sure what happened last night but I imagine they would have shit down operations somewhat later as it would take longers to get all the trains into the right position. Not that that would have helped people heading out on the many none-JR lines which recovered pretty quickly and finished as normal, though some will usually hold last trains for late-running Yamanote trains, so I imagine somewhat more flexibility than usual.

 

JR Tokai did allow people returning late to Nagoya to stay on board a Shinkansen overnight: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20150531-00000006-asahi-soci