In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

For 10 days in mid-June, my Give2Asia colleague, Gillian Yeoh, and I visited Iwate and Miyagi prefectures in Tohoku, the northeastern area devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.

Months after the devastating tsunami, Tohoku officials are struggling to dispose of the enormous amount of waste and debris. Photo by Gillian Yeoh.

We found that Tohoku is still an emergency situation. Just a few days after the tsunami, international media published before-and-after photos of damaged roads that had already been repaired, giving the world the hopeful impression that the devastating physical damage would be quickly and miraculously addressed by Japanese technology. This was not Haiti, after all. But on our visit, three months later, we saw debris fields extending for dozens of miles where coastal communities had stood, fields of wood and concrete rubble, wooden and reinforced concrete buildings precariously perched at unsettling angles, man-made islands of cars, refrigerators, and major pieces of industrial equipment still waiting to be removed. We saw that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces were still searching and finding bodies, and we were told that the continuing search was one reason that heavier equipment is not being used to clear debris more quickly.

In mid-June, many factories and buildings in Tohoku still remained as the tsunami left them on March 11. Photo by Gillian Yeoh.

But there is another factor at work as well: how to dispose of this enormous amount of waste in an environmentally responsible way. Japan does not have much space for landfill; earlier efforts to dump construction waste at sea have drawn criticism. We saw that rodents, flies, and other disease-bearing pests are a growing problem, especially as the rainy season begins. We also learned that an unknown but substantial number of people are still living on the upper floors of their partially destroyed homes. No one knows whether these homes are structurally sound, but they are likely to be vulnerable to after-shocks or the smaller tremors that are so common in Japan. We also saw that some coastal areas are now underwater or inundated during high tide. No one knows yet whether these communities can survive.

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As news spread about the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, there was immediate concern about the effects to the people living on small islands and atolls belonging to more than 22 Pacific Island Nations and scattered across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean.

Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change and disaster risks, due principally to their geographical, geological, and socio-economic environments. The catastrophic event that unfolded for Japan last month was a reminder for these island states not only of their vulnerability but also of their recent experiences with disasters.

Over the past decade, Pacific Islands have experienced weather patterns with devastating effects. Above, damage from cyclone Heta, which hit Niue in 2004. Credit: NOAA / Earth System Research Laboratory

Over the past decade, Pacific Island Nations have experienced unusual weather patterns with devastating effects from climate-related hazards, or hydro-meteorological events, as they can be commonly referred to by disaster specialists:

• Cyclone Heta, which hit Niue in 2004, generated immediate losses that exceeded the 2003 value of GDP by over five times;

• In 2005, Cook Islands experienced five major cyclones crisscrossing its islands with unprecedented damaging effects;

• High surf affected the northern Pacific countries of Micronesia and Marshall Islands in 2009, creating food shortages and health and sanitation concerns for the low-lying atolls;

• Massive flooding in the districts of Nadi and Ba, Fiji, in 2009 caused economic losses for families and businesses estimated at more than $185 million;

• 2009 Solomon Islands flooding in Guadalcanal Province affected hundreds of villagers creating serious disruption to food supply and communal livelihoods, and causing secondary health hazards.

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One month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the Japanese are still coping with an incredible accumulation of sorrow, devastation, and anxiety about the future. Beyond the most urgent question of how Japan will recover from such a calamitous situation, a secondary concern is the potential human, environmental, and economic impact the crisis will have on the rest of Asia.

One month after the Japan earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese are still coping with an incredible accumulation of sorrow, devastation, and anxiety about the future. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy.

It is difficult and certainly too early to determine the full impact of Japan’s triple trauma – an earthquake, tsunami, and ongoing nuclear disaster. While the World Bank estimates the financial cost of the earthquake and tsunami at $235 billion, the human and economic consequences of a possible nuclear catastrophe is still hanging in the air, for both Japan and its Asian neighbors, like the sword of Damocles.

Economists seem to agree that the disaster is not likely to pose a significant, long-term risk to the global economy. It is, however, likely that Asia, and more particularly East Asia, will feel the economic aftershocks of Japan’s earthquake in both the short and the long term. The World Bank’s chief regional economist, Vikram Nehru, said that in the immediate future, the major impact of the disaster on Asia will be in terms of trade and finance. Indeed, several economic and financial dynamics may be affected:

• Trade between Japan and other Asian countries has already been affected by both the reduction of exports from Japan due to disrupted supply chains (in the automotive and electronic industry, for example) and mistrust of consumers regarding fresh produce such as vegetables and fish. Several countries, including China, Russia, and Egypt, have already banned imports of fresh produce from Japan.

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Japan’s frantic rescue efforts in response to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami catastrophe are now entering their seventh day. Over half a million evacuees are being housed in temporary shelters without adequate supplies of food, water, and other essentials. Hospitals are running short of medicine and supplies. Millions of Japanese are deprived of drinking water and face recurring power outages. The entire country, and the world, is nervously watching Japan’s attempts to avert a potentially terrifying melt-down at the Fukushima nuclear power plant 150 miles north of Tokyo.

Rescue officials search for survivors in Ofunato, Japan, following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Matthew M. Bradley

The scale of the Tohoku disaster is just beginning to sink in, but it’s already clear that the physical destruction, economic cost, and, most tragic of all, loss of life will be without precedent in Japan’s post-World War II history.

One can only admire the self-discipline, orderliness, and patience of the Japanese people in the midst of such a horrendous emergency. But as the hours grow into days with relief supplies still slow to arrive, it comes as no surprise that criticism and complaints are starting to be registered against the government’s response thus far.

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The March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan’s northeast coast has left half a million homeless, millions without food and water, and a worsening situation with a ruptured nuclear power plant requiring thousands to evacuate. Immediate relief efforts are underway for what we now know is Japan’s most devastating catastrophe since World War II ended. The Asia Foundation’s partner organization, Give2Asia, a leader in facilitating philanthropic giving to Asia, including disaster relief and recovery, launched its Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund to work with local partners in Japan to respond to recovery needs. In Asia speaks with Give2Asia’s Birger Stamperdahl on lessons learned from past disasters, donor response, the role of local NGOs in long-term relief, and recommendations on how to give wisely.

Q: As relief efforts in Japan move from immediate to short-term recovery, what needs do you most anticipate?

Today, the focus is clearly on immediate relief. Over 500,000 people have been displaced and are in need of shelter, food, water, and other basic necessities. We anticipate that many of these people will need temporary shelter for months, and that other basic supplies will need to continue to flow in to the affected areas.

Based on our experience in previous disasters, such as China’s Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008, the kinds of programs that will be needed in the intermediate phase of recovery will be: 1) psycho-social and post-traumatic stress services for both children and adults; 2) job training and livelihood programs to help communities become sustainable again; and 3) rebuilding.

The demographics in the affected areas might point to what specific recovery projects will be needed. For example, the percentage of elderly people is high in the affected areas. What kinds of social services will the elderly need to recover? Considering the aging demographics of some of the villages destroyed, does it make sense to rebuild them? What longer-term health services will be needed as the result of radiation leaks?

Q: Give2Asia supported short and long-term relief efforts in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2008 China earthquake, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008 and typhoons Ketsana and Parma in Southeast Asia, and most recently, flooding in Pakistan. What lessons from these catastrophes will be critical as you undertake recovery projects in Japan?

In each of these cases, international aid organizations provided valuable and timely assistance, especially in the immediate relief phase of the disaster. Once the relief effort was over, many of these international organizations left and local organizations needed to step in to carry out long-term recovery. Give2Asia believes strongly that local organizations need to be at the center of the response from the very beginning, as they bring the knowledge and relationships that will ensure relief and recovery activities are appropriate and effective. Despite Japan’s wealth, the NGO sector in Japan is relatively young. We see an opportunity for NGOs in Japan to play an important role in the response to this disaster and to increase their capacity in the process.

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