Big earthquakes hit the Noto Peninsula region on the first day of the year 2024. The initial response to rescue operation delayed. On August 8 announced a government’s order, ‘the Nankai Trough Earthquake Emergency Information’. September 1 is observed as the Disaster Prevention Day every year. Let’s think over disaster management organizations.
NEED TO ESTABLISH MINISTRY ON NATURAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT
It is said that the Japanese archipelagos face an active stage of earthquakes. Calamities from big earthquakes are anticipated, like ones of the Nankai Megathrust Earthquake. Natural catastrophes come frequently in the rest of the world, too, due to irregular climate changes, causing loss of people’s lives.
In what situation Japan lies?
In the earthquakes in the Noto region, they say ‘the roads were completely damaged, many ports were unusable due to seabed rising and broken harbors and sea-bound routes hardly worked’.
According to the Verification Report issued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police (August 1), ‘on January 2 small-sized vehicles arrived at the disaster-hit areas, but the heavy-duty cars with equipment for contingency operations could not work until January 4 at the site.’
It continues to say that ‘the Metropolitan Police had had information of road disruptions, but it took a certain amount of time to find out to identify routes as an administrative structure was absent to integrate information.’ This is a reality today in this country.
Establish a professional disaster-response organization
Staff from the Self Defense Forces (SDF) are mobilized at the moment in the disaster areas. But the SDF is primarily combat troops and cannot work as the key in the disaster-response operations. In 1995 big earthquakes attacked the Hanshin and Awaji region. A lesson learnt from the incident was necessity of urgent rescue operations by teams which could assist the SDF’s members. In the same year an organization was set up, ‘National Fire Service Team for Disaster Response’.
In April 2004 this unit was formally incorporated into the fire service department, and since then it has been mobilized by instructions or requests from Director of the Fire and Disaster Management Department (FDMA) to large-scale disaster areas and special catastrophe zones. The number of staff to be recruited was increased up to around 6,600 by the end of fiscal 2023. Nationwide joint drills are held once in a few years.
But the current FDMA of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is an independent bureau of the ministry; it has no direct local branches in charge of planning and projecting fire and disaster operations, enacting laws and establishing standards, and giving guidance and advice. Under the circumstances the FDMA cannot commit in integrating police, SDF and contingency medical teams into a comprehensive rapid deployment service unit.
Foreign countries have Ministry
For instance, the United States has the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Italy has the Civil Protection Department. These two bodies protect lives of people and have two offices, one is in charge of immediate rehabilitation of livelihood and the other, actual operational services to rescue victims from the calamity. Japan needs, too, a professional unit in the police and municipal fire service departments to cope with emergencies.
We propose here a plan; to set up ‘ministry of disaster management’ on the basis of the FDMA, to station seven district centers (branches) under its geographical jurisdiction across the country, to combine the ‘international contingency rescue teams’, which are mobilized at contingencies, with the existing professional organizations to extend actual services for the people in preventing and managing natural disasters.’
新年早々、能登半島を大地震が襲ったが、救援の初動対応が遅れた。８月８日には「南海トラフ地震臨時情報」が発表された。９月１日の「防災の日」を前に救援組織のありようを問いたい。
日本列島は地震の活動期に入っているとされ、南海トラフ地震など大地震の被害が心配される。異常気象による自然災害も日本だけでなく世界各地で頻発、人命が失われている。
災害大国の実態は
能登半島地震では「道路は寸断され、海底の隆起や岸壁の損傷で使用できなくなった港も多く、海路もほとんど機能しなかった」という。
警察庁の検証報告(８月１日公表)によると、「１月２日には小型車両が現地についたが、災害対策機材を積んだ大型車は同月４日まで足止めされた」という。
「道路寸断情報は警察庁に入っていたが集約する体制がなくルートの解明に時間がかかった」というのが「自然災害大国日本」の実態だ。
専門の防災組織を
日本の災害救援では自衛隊出動。しかし、自衛隊は本来的に戦闘組織であり、災害救助の中心組織にはなりえない。阪神・淡路大震災での人命救助活動等を行う応援部隊の早期出動の必要性等の教訓を踏まえ、１９９５年「緊急消防援助隊」が創設された。
２００４年４月から正式に消防組織に位置づけられ、大規模災害や特殊災害が発生した際には、消防庁長官の指示または求めにより、これらの部隊が出動することになった。２０２３年度末までの登録目標隊数が概ね６６００隊規模に大幅増隊することになっているが、合同訓練は数年に一度とか。
しかし現在、総務省の外局であり消防行政の企画・立案、各種法令・基準の策定、指導・助言機関、直接の地方組織を持たない総務省消防庁の体制では、警察・自衛隊・災害医療チームなど、緊急即応部隊を統括することは事実上できない。
諸外国には防災省
各国には、米国連邦緊急事態管理庁、イタリア市民保護庁など国民のいのちを守り、速やかに生活再建を担う行政組織と実動の緊急災害救助組織がある。日本でも警察・自治体消防等など緊急災害に対応する専門センター組織が必要だ。
それには消防庁を母体として新たに「防災省」を設置し、全国７カ所を管区に「広域防災センター」(支所)を置き、現在の緊急時に招集される「国際緊急援助隊」を常設の専門組織と併設し、防災・災害救助の実働組織とする」ことを、私たちは提案したい。
英訳版↓
No. 1368 Japan Encounters Many Natural Disasters
Big earthquakes hit the Noto Peninsula region on the first day of the year 2024. The initial response to rescue operation delayed. On August 8 announced a government’s order, ‘the Nankai Trough Earthquake Emergency Information’. September 1 is observed as the Disaster Prevention Day every year. Let’s think over disaster management organizations.
NEED TO ESTABLISH MINISTRY ON NATURAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT
It is said that the Japanese archipelagos face an active stage of earthquakes. Calamities from big earthquakes are anticipated, like ones of the Nankai Megathrust Earthquake. Natural catastrophes come frequently in the rest of the world, too, due to irregular climate changes, causing loss of people’s lives.
In what situation Japan lies?
In the earthquakes in the Noto region, they say ‘the roads were completely damaged, many ports were unusable due to seabed rising and broken harbors and sea-bound routes hardly worked’.
According to the Verification Report issued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police (August 1), ‘on January 2 small-sized vehicles arrived at the disaster-hit areas, but the heavy-duty cars with equipment for contingency operations could not work until January 4 at the site.’
It continues to say that ‘the Metropolitan Police had had information of road disruptions, but it took a certain amount of time to find out to identify routes as an administrative structure was absent to integrate information.’ This is a reality today in this country.
Establish a professional disaster-response organization
Staff from the Self Defense Forces (SDF) are mobilized at the moment in the disaster areas. But the SDF is primarily combat troops and cannot work as the key in the disaster-response operations. In 1995 big earthquakes attacked the Hanshin and Awaji region. A lesson learnt from the incident was necessity of urgent rescue operations by teams which could assist the SDF’s members. In the same year an organization was set up, ‘National Fire Service Team for Disaster Response’.
In April 2004 this unit was formally incorporated into the fire service department, and since then it has been mobilized by instructions or requests from Director of the Fire and Disaster Management Department (FDMA) to large-scale disaster areas and special catastrophe zones. The number of staff to be recruited was increased up to around 6,600 by the end of fiscal 2023. Nationwide joint drills are held once in a few years.
But the current FDMA of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is an independent bureau of the ministry; it has no direct local branches in charge of planning and projecting fire and disaster operations, enacting laws and establishing standards, and giving guidance and advice. Under the circumstances the FDMA cannot commit in integrating police, SDF and contingency medical teams into a comprehensive rapid deployment service unit.
Foreign countries have Ministry
For instance, the United States has the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Italy has the Civil Protection Department. These two bodies protect lives of people and have two offices, one is in charge of immediate rehabilitation of livelihood and the other, actual operational services to rescue victims from the calamity. Japan needs, too, a professional unit in the police and municipal fire service departments to cope with emergencies.
We propose here a plan; to set up ‘ministry of disaster management’ on the basis of the FDMA, to station seven district centers (branches) under its geographical jurisdiction across the country, to combine the ‘international contingency rescue teams’, which are mobilized at contingencies, with the existing professional organizations to extend actual services for the people in preventing and managing natural disasters.’
August 28, 2024