How Japan put the bitter lessons of the 2011 quake to good use
Tokyo — When massive tsunami waves slammed into Japan’s northeastern coast more than five years ago, about 18,000 people perished, prompting authorities to revise warning systems and evacuation plans to try to save more lives. On Tuesday, when a magnitude 7.4 quake hit the same area, the country swung into action, using lessons learned in the 2011 disaster to ensure coastal residents evacuated well before the much smaller waves hit. Prior to 2011, warning broadcasts were mostly limited to television, radio, and city officials on loudspeakers, with volunteer firemen in trucks roaming the roads, telling residents to flee to higher ground. But on the day now known as 3/11, some of these failed due to power outages after the huge magnitude 9.0 quake, while many firefighters were killed when the waves — 30m high in places — rushed ashore. "A lot of people told us they weren’t able to hear any of the broadcasts, the waves were bigger than expected, and many went back after the first one t...
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