Meltdown!: The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future

Meltdown!: The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future — page 7
Why do so many fewer people die in Japan Two words preparation and warning The Japanese are the most prepared people in the world when earthquakes and tsunamis strike And they have warning systems that alert them in time to seek safety Most of the Haitian deaths were caused by collapsing buildings In Japan most of the buildings survive the earthquake with little or no damage But even where buildings suffer damage most people escape injury because of Japan s earthquake warning system Meanwhile out in the ocean a system of undersea sensors and floating communication buoys called DART Deep ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis detects the early signs of a tsunami It takes nine minutes to collect and compare enough readings Then DART sends a warning to a communications satellite which relays the message to a receiver on the ground