After watching the awful news from Myanmar, I'm wondering how prepared we are as a family for a major disaster.
Japan is home to many natural disasters, with earthquakes and typhoons being the most common.
In my way of thinking, typhoons are easier to cope with. Weather reporting has become very accurate. Typhoons are watched from when they first form, there are tracking simulations so you know if your are going to be in the path of one. As soon as I'm aware of a possible typhoon, I make sure that our yard is clean so there is little chance of debris flying and causing problems. Here, the neighbour's houses are far away, in the last house we were living on top of each other. As much as I was worried about the typhoons, I was more worried that something from our yard would cause damage to the neighbour's house or car! I make sure we have enough water, filling the bathtub to have water for the toilet, to wash with, or for the cats, and for us I would buy bottled water and fill as many flasks as we had. Also, checking that we had food that didn't need to be cooked, and whatever medicines we needed. These preparations take a couple of days. The hardest part is convincing everyone else that we need to do this. My way of thinking is that if we are prepared and nothing happens, it's okay, but if we aren't prepared and we get hit then it would be awful! Especially if we lose power!
Earthquakes are something else altogether. They hit without warning. Apparently, we had one last night, about an M1, so very slight. I didn't feel it!
My fear is the megathrust quake that could happen because of the Nankai Trough off the Pacific Coast of Japan. This subduction zone fault line moves about every 100 to 150 years. The last big one was in 1944, then 1946. Each time, the quake was M8.1.
People who study earthquakes have said that the possibility of a megathrust in the next thirty years is very high. Last year, an advisory was sent out after there was a large earthquake near the Nankai Trough. The advisory was to let people in the area that would be affected to prepare. Not only are these quakes very large, but because they occur at sea, the possible tsunami would be devastating. One news report I saw said that a tsunami caused by the Nankai Trough could be worse than the March 11, 2011, tsunami.
So, what to do? Panic? I've talked to each one of my kids, and they all say if it happens, it happens, nothing we can do about it! Which is true, sitting around worrying about something you can't control is a waste of time and energy!
But at the same time, there are things that I feel are important. We live at the foot of a mountain that might be inaccessible if there is a large earthquake, so having three or four days' worth of food is a sensible thing to do. We should be able to take care of ourselves until rescued. Alongside that, a good first aid kit would help, with things like bandages, alcohol, and some kind of painkiller inside. Any important documents should be copied and kept at hand.
Making a plan of how to contact each other and a meeting point is a good idea. Also, what to do with the cats?
The only big earthquake I've experienced was in 2016. The two big quakes were both at night when we were at home, but after that we talked about where to meet if we were out and decided that the best was to go to Hannah's school. I think we need a new plan!!!!!
These things are always in the back of my mind, but after the Myanmar disaster and the fact that there have been many earthquakes recently I think I should take some action!
There are disaster kits that you can buy, but I always feel they are very expensive. They seem to become more expensive after a major disaster as well. Most items are available at local supermarkets and 100 yen shops. That's where I'm going to start.
The big question is what to do with the cats! We have enough carrier boxes for them but I'm not sure we could take them all with us if we have to evacuate to a shelter!
Also, I've seen several apps for disasters. I'm wondering if it's worth downloading them. I'll have a look. I know on the Line app we use there is a disaster mode that allows you to contact people to let them know you are safe.
Another thing that I think is important is my own health and mobility. I was talking to one lady who used to go for long walks, even in the summer heat. She said that her fear was not being able to help herself or others if there was a disaster. I think getting healthy and keeping my mobility would help with that.
Any other ideas?
Totally unrelated photo, just because the cats look cute!
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Sam and Steve |