Post-disaster challenges and opportunities: Lessons from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and Great Easter Japan earthquake and tsunami
Frederico Ferreira Pedroso, Joel Teo, Erica Seville, Sonia Giovanazzi, John Vargo
Input Paper to the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015.
Abstract
Both the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake and the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami can help practitioners and researchers to further understand the role of information sharing and decision-making in future large-scale post-disaster situations. While both Japan and New Zealand have relatively advanced disaster risk reduction procedures, both cases contain numerous examples where information exchange issues arose, and both challenges and opportunities to learn from the events were encountered. This situation is not unique as reports from past GAR meetings continue to identify challenges around disseminating key information to stakeholders during emergencies and for coordinating post-event reviews. Real events such as the ones cited allow the assessment of current response and recovery practices as well as the identification of gaps in processes. Such studies are important to ensure on-going development and improvements in the Disaster Risk Management field. This paper will help inform policy changes that can be considered in the post 2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.