| Popis: |
Twenty-two thousand people died when the 11 March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan with little or no warning from Civil Defense authorities. Both the earthquake and the tsunami also resulted in the failure and destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and in large-scale distribution of radioactive elements. The seawalls along the affected coasts were easily destroyed by the tsunami, which also stirred up sludge and sediments from the seabed on land, thus making evacuation extremely difficult. Therefore, it becomes obvious that when a destructive tsunami hits again Japan, all coastal plains will continue to be dangerous zones. People living in such areas do not have enough warning time – particularly from local earthquakes and tsunamis - to evacuate to safer areas inland. Therefore, and in order to protect the people in such vulnerable coastal areas, tsunami shelters must be used or constructed to provide for their short-term protection until the tsunami danger subsides. Rapid escape of the people in danger areas to air-sealed type of existing or constructed enclosures serving as temporary shelters, can save their lives. Specifically, air-tight shelters, even in tsunami flooded coastal areas, can provide temporary protection until there is no threat. Such temporary shelters can be cheaply constructed and reliably save lives. Building codes can be amended for building air-filled tsunami shelters in oceanfront buildings, and thus provide safety from normal-level tsunamis at relatively low cost. Tsunami shelters can be constructed even in subway facilities or underground shopping malls, and thus minimize or reduce to zero losses of human lives, not only from tsunamis, but also from large fires, If coastal towns were equipped with tsunami shelters, the number of deaths from tsunamis as well as from large fires could be minimized and even be reduced to zero. |
