When: 10:17 p.m., July 12, 1993. Place: Okushiri Island (population, 4,700). Beginning just three to five minutes after the quake, tsunamis roared in, swallowing up about 400 homes and killing more than 200 people. Damage in the Aonae district (photo on bottom left) at the island's southern tip was the most severe—there, 13 tsunamis, each more than 2 meters high, rolled ashore over a period of one hour.

Top right : To prevent another such disaster, a sea wall almost 14 km long was constructed on the island.

Bottom right : At the Aonae fishing port, a reinforced concrete platform was constructed 6.6 meters above the ground to serve as an evacuation area after a tsunami alert. This structure, called Bokaikyo, has a space on top measuring 32 × 124 meters for public use. It offers good views of the sea, and the area underneath is used for fishing-related work.

(Photo credits: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press D0000W23T10, Nishiyama Hoichi)

Elementary schools in Tokyo organize evacuation drills each month to prepare students for a major earthquake, fire or other disaster.

Left, top: At this school (student population: 118), a vehicle equipped with an earthquake simulator visits once a year to give children a taste of the real thing at magnitude 7, and to teach them not to panic. After a simulated quake alert comes over the loudspeakers, students grab fire-resistant hoods from bags that always hang on their classroom chair backs (bottom far left), put them over their heads and evacuate to the school grounds.

Bottom near left: Everyone in the school lines up outside. Then it is time for the earthquake simulator vehicle, which is operated by the Shinjuku local government.

(Photos by Kono Toshihiko)