The Great East Japan Tsunami and Tsunami Warning Systems: Policy Perspectives

UNESCO/UNU International Symposium

Overview

Date: 16 - 17 February 2012

Location: United Nations University, U Thant Hall
Map »

Organizer: UNESCO, UNU

Language: English and Japanese Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Admission: Free

Contact:
isp-events@unu.edu

Official Website

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March 2011 caused nearly 20,000
people to lose their lives. Major damage and destruction occurred to buildings and
infrastructure in the coastal zone that was flooded, with large societal impacts and social
and economic consequences.

Since the event many national and international post-tsunami field surveys have been carried out. Performance analyses of tsunami early warning systems in place at the time of this event have also been done. Based on these surveys and performance analyses the symposium will offer a number of invited high level perspectives from decision makers and scientists and address topics including:

Event facts and analysis
Tsunami Warning Systems, Tsunami preparedness and event experiences
What has been learned from this event and policy implications.

Registration

Thank you for registering to attend the symposium. We have reached the maximum number of participants and registration is now closed.

Important Note:

Please bring i) an identification card which shows your photo, and ii) a copy of your registration confirmation email for the symposium. For security reasons, entrance to the conference hall will be denied if you cannot produce photo identification.
If you registered for Session 1 on 16 February (Thursday):
The registration desk will be open from 8:20 am – 8:50 am.After 8:50am it will not be possible to enter the Opening Ceremony (9:00-9:50).

Event Report

You can download the final report and the presentation slides from the official website below.

Programme

Thursday, 16 February 2012

9:00 - 09:55	Opening Remarks Moderator: Wendy Watson-Wright, Executive Secretary of IOC-UNESCO and Assistant Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO Konrad Osterwalder, Rector, United Nations University The Great East Japan Tsunami: Video presentation Takehiko Kusaba, International Press Division, NHK
09:55 - 10:10	Break
Session 1: What happened during the Tsunami of 11 March 2011? What was unexpected? What is a new strategy to prepare for the unexpected?
10:10 - 11:30	Moderator: Eddie Bernard, Former Director, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA What happened at that time? Report from affected areas Isoo Sasaki, Mayor of Natori City The impact of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake tsunami disaster –Lessons towards tsunami-resilient communities Shunichi Koshimura, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University Retaining the essential services and functions in coastal municipalities? Hideki Yamaguchi, Director, Fire and Disaster Management Division, Fire and Disaster Management Agency
11:30 - 11:45	Break
11:45 - 13:15	MLIT's emergency response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and recent policy changes regarding tsunami disaster countermeasures Koji Ikeuchi, Director of Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan (MLIT) Management and response actions by the government of Japan Shigeo Ochi, Counselor, Disaster Management Division, Cabinet Office
11:45 - 13:15	Panel Discussion Moderator: Eddie Bernard, Former Director, PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), USA Panelists: David Coetzee, Emergency Management Planner, Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management, New Zealand Karl Kim, Professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Hawaii, USA Helene Hebert, Chief Researcher of Technology Development Agency France Isoo Sasaki, Mayor of Natori City Shunichi Koshimura, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University Hideki Yamaguchi, Director, Fire and Disaster Management Division, Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) Kouji Ikeuchi, Director of Water and Disaster Management Bureau, MLIT Shigeo Ochi, Counselor, Disaster Management Division, Cabinet Office
13:15 - 14:15	Lunch Break
Session 2: Run away from the Tsunami! Why do some people not evacuate? Education in schools and communities.
14:15 - 17:00	Moderator: Ardito Kodijat, Jakarta Tsunami Information Center, UNESCO Tsunami evacuation from a socio-psychological point of view Naoya Sekiya, Associate Professor, Media Communications Studies, Department of Sociology, Toyo University Implementation of Tsunami disaster education in schools and communities Masashi Suenaga, Former Director, Fire Management and Disaster Reduction Division, Kamaishi City Community preparedness near high potential earthquake and Tsunami source areas: The example of Shizuoka prefecture Takayoshi Iwata, Director, Crisis Preparedness and Management Department, Shizuoka Prefecture How to enhance public awareness at community level? Kiyoshi Natori, Director General, Asian Disaster Reduction Center, Japan
14:15 - 17:00	Panel Discussion Moderator: Ardito Kodijat, Jakarta Tsunami Information Center, UNESCO Panelists: Lorna Inniss, Deputy Director, Coastal Zone Management Unit, Barbados Lori Dengler, Professor, Humboldt State University, USA Irina Rafliana, Researcher, Indonesian Institute of Sciences Naoya Sekiya, Associate Professor, Media Communications Studies, Department of Sociology, Toyo University Masashi Suenaga, Former Director of Fire Management and Disaster Reduction Division, Kamaishi City Takayoshi Iwata, Director, Crisis Preparedness and Management Department, Shizuoka Prefecture Kiyoshi Natori, Director General, Asian Disaster Reduction Center, Japan
17:00 - 18:30	Poster Session

Friday, 17 February 2012

Session 3: Towards the improvement of standard operational procedure (SOP) of Tsunami warning centers. What is an understandable and effective Tsunami warning?
9:00 - 10:45	Moderator: Mr. Rick Bailey, Chair of Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS), Bureau of Meteorology, Australia What was the great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami? Kenji Satake, Professor, Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo Enhancement of tsunami warnings through the use of geodetic observations on land and on the bottom of the ocean Hiroshi Yarai, Executive Officer for Earthquake Investigation, Geospatial Information Authority JMA’s response to the Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake and planned improvements of Tsunami warning Osamu Kamigaichi, Director, Seismological and Volcanological Department, Japan Meteorological Agency
10:45 - 11:00	Break
11:00 - 12:00	Linking international tsunami research and science with operational tsunami warning systems Fumihiko Imamura, Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
11:00 - 12:00	Panel Discussion Moderator: Rick Bailey, Chair of IOTWS, Bureau of Meteorology, Australia Panelists: Chip McCreery, Director, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Francois Schindele, Coordinator, France Tsunami Warning Center Daniel Jaksa, Co-Director, Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center Gerassimos Papadopoulos, ResearchDirector, National Observatory of Athens Kenji Satake, Professor, Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo Hiroshi Yarai, Executive Officer for Earthquake Investigation, Geospatial Information Authority Osamu Kamigaichi, Director, Seismological and Volcanological Department, Japan Meteorological Agency Fumihiko Imamura, Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
12:00 - 13:00	Lunch Break
Session 4: The role of Mass Media: Global media collaboration in response to natural hazards and preparedness
13:00 - 14:30	Moderator: Akira Ikegami, Journalist Panelists: Noboru Yamazaki, Deputy Chief, Commentator Commission, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) Megumi Nishikawa, Expert Senior Writer, The Mainichi Newspapers Martin Fackler, Tokyo Bureau Chief , New York Times Régis Arnaud, Tokyo Correspondent, Le Figaro Fadi Salameh, Tokyo Bureau Chief , Aljazeera
14:30 - 14:45	Break
Session 5: Strengthening international cooperation: Role of international organizations
14:45 - 16:45	Moderator: Wendy Watson Wright, Executive Secretary of IOC, UNESCO Current status of international coordinating structure of tsunami warning and mitigation systems: towards establishment of globally harmonized system Yutaka Michida, Professor, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Vice-Chair of IOC Recovery of the Tsunami affected areas and building a nature harmonious society Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice-Rector, United Nations University International cooperation and development partnership Shinya Ejima, Director General, Global Environment Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
14:45 - 16:45	Panel Discussion Moderator: Wendy Watson Wright, Executive Secretary of IOC, UNESCO Panelists: Maria Ana Baptista, Professor, ISEL, University of Lisbon Denis Peter, Project Officer, Directorate General for Research & Innovation, European Commission Peter Koltermann, Professor, Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University and Former Head of IOC Tsunami Unit David Tappin, Professor, British Geological Survey (BGS) Yutaka Michida, Vice-Chair of IOC, Professor, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice-Rector, United Nations University Shinya Ejima, Director General, Global Environment Department, JICA
16:45 - 17:00	Closing Koichiro Matsuura, Former Director-General of UNESCO and Special Advisor to the Rector of UNU

Technical Site Excursion to tsunami affected areas

Following the conclusion of the symposium there will be a two day technical site visit to tsunami affected areas. Registration for the excursion is now closed as we have reached the maximum number of applicants.

Supported by:

Disaster Management, Cabinet Office of Government of Japan, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, Japan Meteorological Agency, Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, The University of Tokyo, Asian Disaster Reduction Center, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), The Mainichi Newspapers.

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UNESCO/UNU International Symposium