Local Government Responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake

Transcription

1 Local Government Responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake (November 24, 2011) Takehiko Imai Information Policy Department, General Affairs and Planning Bureau, Sendai City

2 1. Comparison between the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (Early October, 2011) The Great East Japan Earthquake (2011) The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (1995) Magnitude Area flooded by tsunami 561 km 2 - Number of missing and dead About 20,000 6,434 Number of evacuees (maximum) About 480,000 (within Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures) About 317,000 Completely and partially destroyed houses About 300,000 About 249,000 Damage About 16.9 trillion yen About 9.6 trillion yen 2

3 2. Comparison between the Great East Japan Earthquake and the 1978 Miyagi Earthquake (Sendai City) (Late October 2011) The Great East Japan Earthquake (2011) 1978 Miyagi Earthquake (1978) Magnitude Area flooded by tsunami 52 km 2 - Number of missing and dead Number of evacuees (maximum) 102,433 (All shelters were closed on July 31) 1,574 Completely and partially destroyed houses 104,174 4,385 Damage About 1.3 trillion yen 210 billion yen 3

4 3. Damage to Coastal Areas (1) Sendai Port and vicinity Sendai Station Gamo Sendai Port Gamo and vicinity in Miyagino Ward Sendai Airport 4

5 3. Damage to Coastal Areas (2) Okada and vicinity in Miyagino Ward Sendai Station Okada Arahama, Wakabayashi Ward Arahama Sendai Airport 5

6 4. Damage to Housing Sites (1) Nikka Whisky JR Nishisendai Hi-Land (Temporary) Station Distribution map of major housing sites damaged by landslides To Sendai Hi-Land Resort Izumi Ward Office Nikkawa Miyagi General Branch Sendai City Hall Aoba Ward Office Miyagino Ward Office JR Sendai Station Wakabayashi Ward Office Taihaku Ward Office Site affected by the disaster 6

7 4. Damage to Housing Sites (2) Takanohara, Aoba Ward Takanohara Oritate Seikaen Sendai Station Seikaen, Aoba Ward Oritate, Aoba Ward 7

8 5. Damage to Public Facilities (1) Gas Bureau s Minato Plant Minami-Gamo Water Purification Plant (Sewage Treatment Facility) Gas Bureau s Minato Plant Sendai Station Minami-Gamo Water Purification Plant (Sewage Treatment Facility) Fire-fighting Heliport Fire-fighting Heliport Sendai Airport 8

9 5. Damage to Public Facilities (2) Elementary and Junior High Schools Nankodai Elementary School Nankodai Elementary School Sendai Station Nagamachi Junior High School Nagamachi Junior High School 9

10 6. Conditions in Sendai City (1) Minami-Gamo Water Purification Plant in normal times The picture on the next page was taken from this direction Seaward Landward

11 6. Conditions in Sendai City (2) Conditions on the day of the earthquake Seaward Landward 11

12 7. Sendai City s Responses to Its Information Systems and Network (1) 7.1 Status of information systems (1) Immediately after the earthquake No servers had fallen over and there was no other damage to servers in the machine room in the Information Systems Center. (2) We shut down our information systems from midnight on March 11 to early morning on March 12, because the power was cut off throughout the city and we were uncertain when it would be restored. (3) March The power was gradually restored in the area surrounding the Information Systems Center. Operation of parts of the internal LAN resumed (in some facilities, the network was left disconnected). (4) After March 17 1 Information systems online services resumed for resident registration, taxation, etc. step by step. 12

13 7. Sendai City s Responses to Its Information Systems and Network (2) 7.2 Status of voice communications network (external and internal lines) (1) External lines Calls from the outside did not get through immediately after the earthquake. (2) Internal lines 1 Calls could be made immediately after the earthquake, although in some facilities, internal calls became impossible when the batteries in the phones ran out. 2 On March 21, all lines in the city s key facilities (the main building at City Hall and the ward offices) were restored. 13

14 7. Sendai City s Responses to Its Information Systems and Network (3) 7.3 Sendai City s official website (1) The network became inaccessible immediately after the disaster. We established a tentative website using a temporary server. (2) Information about the disaster on the official website has been updated since access was restored on March Use of an distribution service (1) Residents affected by the disaster required quick and detailed information about lifelines and other issues central to their lives. We delivered the following information reflecting citizens needs and changing condition using an distribution service. Water stations (information for the next day on when and where water stations would supply water) Reopening of the city gas supply (areas where the gas supply was scheduled to resume the next day) Debris removal work (areas where the work was scheduled for the next week) (2) The number of addresses registered with the service increased from about 3,000 to 15,

15 7. Sendai City s Responses to Its Information Systems and Network (4) 7.5 Responses to work resulting from the disaster (1) Immediately after the earthquake, we were occupied with tasks including lifesaving and first aid, information collection, coordination and liaison, establishing and operating shelters, distributing materials and emergency responses to infrastructures and public facilities. (2) After a week had passed, we started considering introducing an information system to deal with lots of tasks including issuing Disaster Victim Certificates, the number of which increased after the disaster. (3) There was no practical information system to deal with the administrative work of an ordinance-designated city while all departments were deluged with work. We coped with the situation by modifying existing easy and ready-touse systems and developing a simple program. 15

16 8. The Great East Japan Earthquake and Local Government ICT (1) Characteristics Some local governments became unable to function because they lost their office buildings or information systems Responses Prepare a framework that can be developed in an emergency to restore the local government s administrative functions. There were prolonged power failures and in many areas communications networks became disconnected. Demands for administrative services such as issuing Disaster Victim Certificates and establishing shelters suddenly increased. Prepare a framework to secure a regional communication network that connects major public facilities with shelters and other facilities as well as a network that connects with the outside. Shift the system used to assist with administrative work for the recovery to an SaaS model. 16

17 8. The Great East Japan Earthquake and Local Government ICT (2) 8.1 Preparing a framework to restore the administrative functions of local government (1) Four municipalities including Rikuzentakata City suffered damage to their office buildings and information systems in the disaster. It took about four months to establish a temporary office and restore the information systems. (2) Preparation of trained personnel and workable information systems are critical in developing reconstruction procedures as soon as possible when a local government is affected by a disaster. (3) Personnel should be formed into three units that can support general administrative work, construction of office buildings and establishment of information systems. (4) To make the best use of what we have learned from our experience with this disaster, the Government should investigate and assess the damage to municipalities affected by the disaster, and prepare the frameworks that I have described. 17

18 8. The Great East Japan Earthquake and Local Government ICT (3) 8.2 Preparing for urgent development of a regional communications network Internet City Hall (the disaster countermeasures office) Cloud computing Shelter (school) Mobile base station Satellite base station car Mobile base station Major public facilities Shelter (school) Shelter (school) Area affected by disaster To establish voice and data communications when telecommunication channels are in a state of confusion immediately after an earthquake, it is necessary to reserve a specific frequency band as a dedicated emergency line and mobile base stations through which communication will be relayed. I recommend that the Government prepare this communication network. 18

19 8. The Great East Japan Earthquake and Local Government ICT (4) 8.3 Shifting the system to assist with administrative work for the recovery to an SaaS-model (1) Tasks required immediately after the disaster included lifesaving and first aid, establishing shelters and temporary maintenance on damaged public facilities. However, after a week, they were replaced by the following. Receiving applications for Disaster Victim Certificates, and approving and issuing them Disposing of debris and demolishing and removing damaged buildings Loans for living expenses, distribution of relief donations and payments from the Disaster Victims Livelihood Recovery Support Funds Construction and collection of temporary residences (2) Many officials from other municipalities were engaged in these tasks. However, their home administrations also need them to deal with the effects of administrative reform. Therefore, they were not allowed to stay for long and had to return after three days to a week, just when they had become used to the tasks that needed doing here. (3) Many of these tasks are suited to formalization. I recommend that the Government create an SaaS-model system for these tasks based on cloud computing and open it for free use by local governments. If we put these measures into effect, each local government will be able to train their officials to be familiar with the system. As a result, more personnel will be able to launch their support activities smoothly in the local government areas affected. 19