Before reading this article, click "Follow" in the upper right corner, which is not only convenient for you to discuss and share, but also can bring you a different sense of participation, thank you for your support!
- Source/Evidence of Literature and History
- Author/Witness Literary History
Recently, a strong earthquake occurred again in Japan, and more than 100 people have died or lost contact so far. We can't help but feel how fragile human life is in the face of natural and man-made disasters. This earthquake is reminiscent of the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japanese history, when the situation in the affected areas was even worse than it is now. Does the two have anything in common?
Why is there the fate of the "earthquake country".
Japan's long, narrow terrain and narrow area, surrounded by the sea, give it both advantages and inevitable disadvantages: frequent earthquakes and tsunamis.
In contemporary geography, the world is usually divided into six major plates, and Japan is at the junction of the Pacific and Eurasian plates. We know that the earth is divided into multiple circles, and the plates we call (in fact, the lithosphere) float above the asthenosphere of the earth, and the plates move relative with the movement of the asthenosphere, so the Pacific plate and the Eurasian plate often squeeze and collide, and the collision place forms the Pacific Rim volcanic seismic belt, and some areas of the continent are also in such a dangerous position. Japan, on the other hand, is located in an earthquake zone, so it often suffers from geological disasters.
At the beginning of 2024, when the world is still immersed in New Year's Eve celebrations, no one could have imagined that the people of Japan's Noto Peninsula will be in a situation of homelessness and life and death.
The disaster of the beginning of the year
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula on January 1, 2024, and Japan's Asahi Shimbun website reported the opinion of Junichi Nakajima, a professor of seismology at Tokyo Institute of Technology, who believes that the earthquake in the area is a swarm-type earthquake. In the case of swarm earthquakes, there is no mainshock, and although a series of small earthquakes of similar magnitude often occur, the magnitude of the earthquake will not exceed 6. However, this situation was unique because of the occurrence of a strong earthquake.
In addition, the Noto Peninsula is located on the Sea of Japan side of Japan's main island of Honshu. Based on Japan's earthquake disaster statistics, the area on the Sea of Japan side is more susceptible to earthquakes, and this earthquake is the largest earthquake that has ever occurred. According to Takuya Nishimura, a professor at Kyoto University's Institute of Disaster Prevention, there is a high probability that there will be many aftershocks in the future after the strong earthquake, and it is necessary for relevant departments to be vigilant and prepare emergency measures in advance.
Professor Nishimura told the media that the earthquake may have been caused by seawater pouring into the cracks between the plates, but the magnitude was so strong that the fluid alone was not enough to cause such a result, and it was possible that the pressure of plate movement on the Sea of Japan side needed to be released.
The beginning of the disaster
The end of a strong earthquake does not mean that the disaster is over. In the anime "Cherry Maruko", which I often saw as a child, this scene is depicted, and the town where Maruko lives is hit by a major earthquake, followed by a government broadcast warning of an imminent tsunami, Maruko's family flees in a panic and takes refuge in high places. Maruko's family survived, but she saw many trapped people and victims who had nothing to do.
Earthquakes can damage infrastructure in towns and cities, such as underground water pipes, electrical circuits, transportation routes, and more. The tsunami caused by the earthquake inundated everything, just as the need to prevent the epidemic after a flood was so bad that people had problems sustaining three meals a day.
In 1923, the Kanto region suffered a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that paralyzed six cities, affecting nearly 2 million people, and tens of thousands of buildings and facilities were ruthlessly destroyed by nature. Due to the fact that the raw material for construction in Japan at that time was mainly wood, the gas pipeline under the city was severely damaged, and the fire burned one after another, and the sea of fire, ruined houses, and unclaimed corpses ...... It's purgatory on earth.
Internal contradictions erupted
If it had happened now, the relevant supplies might have been distributed to the victims in a timely manner through various channels, but people in the 20s of the last century were not so lucky. In the aftermath, relief efforts were initially carried out on the initiative of the people, with food rations distributed not enough for everyone to eat, and medical staff working around the clock to help the victims, but it was also a drop in the bucket in the face of the huge number of people affected.
The earthquake paralyzed many media outlets, and radio and television were powerless to play a role, and there was no way to know how many places were affected and how many people needed help.
At a time when it was necessary for all the people to work together to fight the disaster, Japan did not actively fight the disaster to protect the people's livelihood, but instead investigated the problems left over from history and wantonly killed Koreans in Japan.
In the midst of such bloody events, the left and right wings of Japan also began to kill each other, and the anarchists Sakae Osugi and his six-year-old nephew were brutally killed during this period. It is hard to imagine how the Japanese national character is so despicable.
Similar to Noto and Kanto
After the earthquake on the Noto Peninsula, the Japanese government claimed to accept only aid from the United States, and did not care about the suffering of the front-line victims.
Similar to the Great Kanto Earthquake of that year, the earthquake also caused many secondary disasters, such as a landslide in Ishikawa Prefecture on January 2, which blocked transportation routes.
Severe fires also broke out in Wajima City, the core disaster area, and it is estimated that more than 200 houses were destroyed in the fires. Most of the airports and highways in the disaster area are still impassable.
As in the 20s of the last century, it was difficult for people to enter the field to check the situation, and aid supplies could not enter the disaster area, and it is hard to imagine that the Japanese government, which had been planted in the past, would repeat the disaster a hundred years later, and there was no other emergency plan, and only today more than 1,000 Self-Defense Forces have arrived in the disaster area to carry out rescue operations.
The Japanese people are also quite dissatisfied with what the Japanese government has done this time, and some Japanese netizens in foreign media have compared the level of emergency response between China and Japan.
The Chinese side mobilized troops in a timely manner to provide warm and comfortable tents for the victims in the cold winter months, and the logistics troops ensured the daily life supply in the disaster area, so that everyone could eat a hot dumpling. On the Japanese side, the mobilization of materials has been slow, the resettlement sites for the victims are chaotic, and the people have suffered untold suffering due to the lack of water, electricity and food. Japanese netizens angrily criticized why countries with frequent earthquakes have not yet been able to have a corresponding level of disaster relief mechanism.
History may always be strikingly similar, because future generations never learn from experience, and the fundamental reason why Japan has not seen progress after the two earthquakes is more than 100 years apart, and the fundamental reason is that it does not put the people in mind.
In order to hold the Olympic Games well, South Korea went so far as to arrest homeless people on the streets in the name of maintaining the city's appearance; Japan did not focus on disaster relief in the first place, but held high the ideological banner; is it not despised by the people that they have trampled on human rights in this way? Whether natural disasters or man-made disasters are people's own justice.
Finally, due to the rules of the platform, you will only be considered a fan if you interact with me more. If you like my articles, you can click "Follow" and receive the article push as soon as you become a fan.
The article was originally published by "Evidence of Literature and History", and the whole network has been opened to protect rights, without permission, no one is allowed to reprint or carry it in any way, and infringement must be investigated!
#来点儿干货#