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Earthquake drill

24 Comments

Isetan department store employees assigned to evacuation management shout instructions as an earthquake alert is announced during a drill at the store in Tokyo on Friday. The metropolitan government conducted a disaster drill for commuters at three major railway stations and the department store on Friday.

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Orderly Chaos, looks unnatural !

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The way it looks to me, if there was really an earthquake, they would all be gone. Looks like they have no idea what is going on and like some14some said, Orderly Chaos, looks unnatural !

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

There is supposed to be a large earthquake in Tokyo today according to some ratbag scientist! I am sure drills like this help (not) considering how quickly the wheels fell of everything in March last year.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Reminds me of the scene from the movie "Airplane" where the flight attendant instructs : "Assume crash positions".

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Disillusioned,

scientist? Don't you mean crank? This year has been a bad year for psychics, telepaths and other madmen around the world, all the earthquakes made their silly little predictions look completely random, and on top of that we had Harold Camping and Ken Ring go down in fine style fueled by the media who seem to think we will swallow anything . Every time a psychic goes down I find myself singing a certain Queen song about biting dust. I gotta feel sorry for all the Mayan calendar believers, 2012 really has come around faster than they expected, it's gonna be a year of red faces for them.

Yay for science, and yay for earthquake drills. Anyone who opposes emergency drills shouldn't be given access shelters or food and water.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Lunchbox: "Yay for science, and yay for earthquake drills. Anyone who opposes emergency drills shouldn't be given access shelters or food and water."

I don't think anyone opposes such drills, I just think some people question the way they are conducted. It's like sports day here -- all planned out beforehand, with everyone knowing the outcome before it happens (except the odd case when a kid who is 'not supposed to' fall falls). What they need is an honest to god drill -- don't tell people there's one that's going to happen (save for the people in charge, and who are supposed to be helping). This is downtown Tokyo we're talking, so there's bound to be a good number of foreigners, but do you see even one in the crowd (granted, there could be people from other Asian countries)? How is this guy going to communicate to those people in such a situation? So again have a drill where few people involved know what's happening, but throw in a few token foreigners without letting the 'rescuers' know to see how they can react to the situation.

Or if people are worried about creating panic in such a drill (there would be, but there would be a LOT more panic during the real deal), let all the people who volunteer to be 'innocent shoppers' or the injured know, but don't let the people assigned to evacuation management know that you're throwing in a few wrenches. Otherwise, it's just not going to be realistic.

That said, Lunchbox et. al., drills like these never hurt as supplements, and I'm 100% for proper education about what you should do in the event of an earthquake (ex. do NOT get under a table or desk, or try to wait it out in a doorway, contrary to popular belief that that's what you should do!), where the proper evacuation zones are, etc. This is done of course at schools, to an extent, but should be done with adults more.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

All you need is the tourist in the middle....standing.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Looks like an orgy

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I know there have been disaster management companies working in places like Kamaishi who believe that their courses have helped save lives during 3/11. They may be right.

But I find down here in Tokyo that the drills I have taken part in have been completely unrealistic compared to when the real thing happened. They draw attention to the fact that it might happen and we should be prepared for it, but nothing more. Some examples:

1) The class has a neat little telephone chain where when the drill starts you receive a message from the person up the chain and pass it on to the next one in the chain from you - but the phones didnt work when the real thing happened. 2) You have to walk to the school (no cycling) - but every parent rushed there as quickly as they could, obviously very worried - and those were just the ones that COULD get there. The ones working miles away couldnt get there at all and the school had no system prepared for kids that couldnt be picked up. 3) We are supposed to bring our emergency cards and our ID cards - but these are not cards you can carry around in your wallet - they have to be kept at home. But no-one was returning home into swaying buildings to pick up the cards, especially thoe of us living higher up because elevators had stopped. 4) The kids were not lined up in the schoolyard in an orderly fashion with each teacher at the head of each row, standing with a clipboard and a list of names. In fact, I didnt see any teachers at all in the schoolyard and I eventually found my daughter crouched under a desk. The teacher saw me and shouted off you go! from under another desk. That was the extent of our emergency ID check!

My point is that I wouldnt mind at all - these drills are more helpful than not - but you would think that after the real thing they would hone the procedures somewhat, now knowing what does and does not work. But nope - come the beginning of the school year in April, once again we had the telephone chain, the slow march to the school, the comparison of the emergency cards (which we were all carrying that day knowing there was going to be a drill) and finally, the release of the child. Surely it would have been better to ditch the telephone system altogether, ditch the no-bicycle rule just for the drill, re-issue purse-sized emergency ID cards and have us pick the kids up from under their desks? It just felt like a box-ticking exercise, nothing more!

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Is squatting really the ideal response to an earthquake? Wouldn't you be increasing the chances of being hit by merchandise and displays falling over on your head?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"on lookers, media and passers by take photos of the PR event (not in the picture)'

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This looks as effective and the ''Duck and Cover'' volcano drill on ''South Park''

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The guy at the front of the picture looks genuinely worried. Maybe no one told him it was just a drill. He's probably thinking, "What the hell is wrong with me, I can't feel anything but it must be a helluva big earthquake for this to happen."

Nicky, since March 2011 I've come to believe that those "in charge" really don't care about learning from the events of history. Not in a malicious way, but more in the slow march over the cliff: "This is the way it's always been done, so who am I to change things."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I hope the two employees who are yelling are yelling the same information rather than conflicting. Also, I like the guy on the right who is checking is keitai, as if that would be possible in a real earthquake.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Many of us reading this article experienced last year's March 11 earthquake(s). From what we went through, do you believe everything would be so orderly at the peak of a monster quake? For one thing, when the thing is hitting, it is hard to stand up. And if you are in a building in which the floors act like trampolines, good luck stooping down in the middle of the floor. Chances are you won't be able to even crawl that far.

Such exercises are good in figuring out where the problems will be ... but when the real thing happens the situation changes drastically. This is what they should be taking into consideration ...

Oh, and another thing ... while watching the drill on TV, they led a big group of people outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government towers at Shinjuku. I wouldn't really want to be walking there as windows breaking on the top floors would be sending down glass shards that would be whipping wildly in the wind ... thus cutting everyone to pieces.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

How is squatting in a large dept store going to help them? Think this will work when the store is full of grannies? I'm all for drills and whatnot but fail to see how what they are doing would help. Bolting for the door and helping people get out I get. Squatting while some young kid tries to yell at people and tell them what to do? Not sure about that.

Smith, well said. the 'drills" I have been in here have been horrendous. Right down to my fire exit door in school being... locked. Nothing like leading a class of chu2s to their fake death. When I mentioned this to the principal, he shrugged and said 'it was just a drill". Um, and if it wasn't???

0 ( +1 / -1 )

they led a big group of people outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government towers at Shinjuku

really? I thought that was supposed to be the safest building in town? Shows how much I know.

Don't really want to imagine a quack so big that people aren't safe in those buildings.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I agree with Nicky, that stuff all goes out the window when the real one hits. On 3/11 we got under the table as we always do, and when it was over we all grabbed a toddler or two and bolted, and formed a circle in the parking lot with adults on the outside and kids on the inside, in laps. We had emergency bags in each room, but not one made it downstairs. After the biggest aftershocks teachers went in one by one to get shoes, blankets, the phone list, etc.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

OH no not again! we have had enough.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oh, and another thing ... while watching the drill on TV, they led a big group of people outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government towers at Shinjuku. I wouldn't really want to be walking there as windows breaking on the top floors would be sending down glass shards that would be whipping wildly in the wind ... thus cutting everyone to pieces.

This is really good advice and worth remembering if another big quake happens. In the March quake, we were in the doorway of a building (Shinjuku) when the big aftershock happened 30 minutes later. Some guy was screaming at us to move into the narrow road - fully exposed to nine floors of plate glass windows, which would have been MUCH worse if they had shattered. I remember when IRA bombs were going off in London, the danger was always more from falling glass than from the explosion itself if you weren't right next to the thing.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

http://danieldiaztecles.blogspot.com/ In Spain this is what we teach: 1) In case of earthquake shelter in a safe place. 2) Stay calm. Think of the consequences of any action you make. Try to calm and reassure others. 3) The first precaution to follow is to take shelter in a safe place, the following reaction is smart to think about what attitude will be: the most dangerous thing is not to consider an order of priority and try to escape apresuradamente. 4) salt into an open safe . In case you have no escape to a safe, open space, look no exit in haste, much more dangerous than the earthquake itself, is to take this attitude, keeps furniture and take shelter under the escritorio.En hide inside housing, where there is comparatively greater number of columns is the safest place. Dinteles.Si below you are indoors, beware of falling plaster, bricks, electrical appliances and other objects. Beware slender furniture: high bookcases, cabinets, shelves and other furniture that can be run, fall down or tip over. Stay away from windows, mirrors, fireplaces, tables, etc. In the calculated seismic buildings or structures to resist earthquakes, you must have the confidence, as these structures do not succumb to the terremoto.Si are in high office building , seek shelter under a desk. Do not rush for the exits, as the stairs are crowded with people. The driving force for the elevators can be interrupted: never use during a severe seismic event! Regarding the photo, would have to do a video of the scene as a picture in a particular moment does not tell the whole context of the same

2 ( +2 / -0 )

These drills is for fooling people, if there is a high magnitude earthquake there were so discipline at all and people will just stepping over to survives!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I just felt a quake.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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