Chapter 4

4.

Promotion of Cooperation on Disaster Reduction by Identification of Needs and Resources□■

Promotion of Cooperation on Disaster
Reduction by Identification of Needs
and Resources4-1. Papua New Guinea Tsunami Disaster Awareness Project
More than two years have passed since the 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami disaster. During this time,
the project launched jointly by the Papua New Guinea government and ADRC helped prevent disasters
during the New Island earthquake tsunami in 2000. For future reference, this earthquake tsunami isoutlined below as an example which demonstrates the effectiveness of disaster reduction cooperation
projects.

1) Aitape tsunami
On July 17, 1998, a submarine earthquake
Area Affected by Aitape Tsunami Disaste
measuring 7 on the Richter scale with theepicenter 30 km north-west off the coast of
Papua New Guinea occurred, immediately
followed by a massive tidal wave reaching amaximum height of 15 m, which struck thecoast over an area of 40 to 50 km. The four
villages which were affected, Sisano, Warap,
Arop, and Marol, had a population of about
5,500 in total. Of this, at least 2,200 were
either killed or reported missing, making ita catastrophic disaster in which 50% of the
population was sacrificed. In addition, theearthquake incurred injuries of more than
10, 000, and was recorded as the worst
disaster in the history of the country.
It was named the Aitape tsunami,
Results of Survey on Aitape Tsunami Heightafter the main town in the coastal(According to International Tsunami Survey Team)
area where the tsunami occurred.
Being a massive tsunami which
normally does not occur with anearthquake of this scale (magnitude7.1), experts are still conducting
surveys and studies on themechanism. The tsunami is said tohave most likely been caused by thefollowing: 1)the tsunami energy
concentratedinaparticular
direction due to the effects of theseabed topography as the tsunami
approached the coastal area, thetsunami height may have become79

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very high at the west coast of Aitape, or there may exist a tsunami source other than the shift in fault
such as landslide or collapse of the seabed, but the actual cause has yet to be determined.

2) Measures by Papua New Guinea Government
Regardless of the cause of the Aitape tsunami, it was the largest tsunami disaster in Papua New Guinea,
and it presented the Papua New Guinea government with the task of providing medical support to theinjured, such as critical care and rehabilitation as well as support in helping affected residents to restore
their lives. The Papua New Guinea government was faced with the need to scientifically analyze thecircumstances surrounding the occurrence of the tsunami and devise disaster reduction measures for
future tsunamis.
In the wake of the disaster, the government has schemed numerous aid policies to help residents ofaffected area relocate to the inland area, as well as help fishermen and farmers who were forced to
discontinue their business by the disaster to restore their lives. As the disaster took place in the coastal
area which is extremely vulnerable to tsunamis and caused devastating damage, it drew the considerable
attention of the international community, and received enormous aid from the Papua New Guinea Red
Cross and NGOs like the Salvation Army. Thanks to such support and voluntary efforts of affected
residents, the affected Aitape Rumi administrative region is gradually on the road to recovery.
3) Issues in Tsunami Disaster Reduction Measures
Since Papua New Guinea is highly likely to encounter tsunami disasters in the future from its
topographical conditions, the government has also reviewed disaster reduction measures to prepare forsimilar tsunamis in the future.
As part of measures by the government, the Papua New Guinea Government National Disaster
Reduction Awareness Committee (chaired by Professor Hugh Davies, Papua New Guinea University
Geology Laboratory) decided to hold tsunami disaster prevention conferences (described later) tounderstand the actual situation of the Aitape tsunami, verify appropriate knowledge of the mechanism of
tsunamis and tsunami disaster reduction measures, as well as verify the effectiveness of the various
measures which have been implemented after Aitape tsunami disaster.
The most important tsunami disaster reduction measure in Papua New Guinea would be to ensure thatthe people and residents have sufficient knowledge of tsunamis and are able to take the appropriate
disaster reduction action should a tsunami actually occur. Some residents believed that the Aitape
tsunami resulted from God’s anger or suspected that it was a result of an attack by a foreign country.
The lessons learnt from the previous tsunami disaster in 1907 were not passed on due to generation
change, and most of the local residents had not knowledge of tsunamis. Based on these lessons, theimplementation of a program to spread knowledge on tsunami disaster reduction was set down as anurgent task. Professor Hugh Davies, the chairman of the National Disaster Reduction AwarenessCommittee thus turned to the ADRC for support in compiling materials to spread knowledge on tsunami
disaster reduction in Papua New Guinea. (Details are provided in Chapter 6: Planning of Materials forthe Dissemination of Knowledge on Disaster Reduction, and Increased of Awareness.)4) Solutions for tsunami disaster reduction measures (No．1)(1) The Papua New Guinea and Region Tsunami International Conference
The Papua New Guinea and Region Tsunami International Conference (PARTIC in short) was held in
the city of Madan in the northern coast of Papua New Guinea from September 19 to 24, 2001. Based on
the policy “the scientific survey of the Aitape tsunami and dissemination of disaster reduction
knowledge about tsunamis to the people should be done together”, the conference was an enormous
effort aiming to bring together, for the first time in Papua New Guinea, scientists from both within the
country and abroad, such as tsunami researchers and geologists including experts from Japan and theUS, residents representing affected areas, representatives from the Papua New Guinea government,
Sandaun Province government, Aitape Rumi administrative area, representatives of NGOs such as Red
Cross and Salvation Army, and representatives from related organizations such as the UN, Australia
International Development Agency, and ADRC to exchange opinions on future tsunami disaster
reduction plans.

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Dialogue with local residents
Prior to the conference, tsunami researcher from Papua New Guinean, Japan and the US involved in thescientific studies of the Aitape tsunami visited affected villages, talked directly with the residents about
ways of preventing disasters, telling them that the tsunamis are natural phenomena and are not caused
by God’s anger or attacks by foreign countries, and taught them that damages can be prevented bytaking the appropriate actions when earthquakes are felt, such as evacuating immediately to higher land.
Conference of scientists on tsunamis
Upon returning from the affected areas, the tsunami researchers and Papua New Guinean researchers
held a Tsunami Expert Conference in Madan for exchanging opinions on research results, mainly toclarify the causes of tsunamis as well as exchange the latest information obtained surveys and studies.
As a result, it was pointed out that Papua New Guinea lies on an Australian plate which moves 11 cm
every year, that earthquakes and tsunamis are highly likely to occur in the future, the Aitape tsunami
was due not only to the movement of faults by the submarine earthquake, but because a submarine
landslide also occurred, the destructive force of the tsunami may have been abnormally high. Therefore
the seabed topography of the west coast of Aitape may have affected the course of the tsunami andconcentrated the energy of the tsunami in a certain area. These survey and research results were sharedwith the Papua New Guinea Geological Survey Bureau and geological experts of the University of
Papua New Guinea.
Tsunami Disaster Reduction Conference
Finally, lessons learned from the Aitape Tsunami disaster and future tsunami disaster reduction
measures were discussed with the central and local governments of Papua New Guinea, NGOs which
provided relief, residents representing affected areas, and representatives of related internationalorganizations. The following Recommendation (excerpt) summarizes the results.
Report on Past Tsunami Disasters in Japan and the World Outlined at PARTIC

This was the first time in the history of Papua New Guinea that researchers (scientists, etc.), disaster
reduction administrative officers, and representatives of local residents gathered together after a disasterto exchange opinions on measures to be taken after a disaster, and agreed on future disaster reduction
measures. In this sense, it can be called a great achievement. It was very fortunate that the ADRC wasable to contribute to the success of this meeting in the following way.

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PARTIC Recommendations (Excerpt)
・ Continue spreading tsunami disaster reduction knowledge to the inhabitants (through Media,
education, and educational materials)
・ Reinforce voluntary efforts to protect oneself in disaster reduction training in various regions
・ Secure disaster management ability of emergency communication systems, and establish backup
system・ Clarify and secure tsunami evacuation sites
・ 24-hour system emergency wireless communication system
・ 24-hour geological observatories at both Port Moresbi and Rabaul
・ Save lives within 24 hours when disasters occur and ensure rescue within 72 hours
・ Enhance emergency evaluation system of disaster scale
・ Enhance national disaster management bureau staff and reinforce 24-hour communication
function・ Reinforce support system by airplane and helicopter
・ Reinforce cooperation between national disaster management bureau, provinces, andadministrative regions
・ Establish emergency disaster management troops within the national Papua New Guinea army
・ Improve epidemic control and train specialists in handling the bodies of victims and animals
・ Reinforce disaster management ability of the police and security system of affected areas
・ Appoint persons in charge of supporting and coordinating NGO activities
・ National layout of civilian level emergency disaster management organizations
・ Clarify standards of medical and health activities and ensure medical supplies and transportationmeans
・ Enhance mental care programs such as counseling・ Need for orderly feedback of scientific survey activities and results
・ Use results of scientific survey activities for activities to increase awareness・ Appoint persons in charge of arranging activities with mass-media
・ Improve disaster management ability in various administrative regions until arrival of external aid
・ Scheme disaster reduction plans in country, province, and administration
・ Clarify instructional system in region announcing emergency situation
・ Reinforce dialogue, discussion, and other cooperation between administration and local residents
・ The best form of disaster aid is contributions. Support in the form of material supplies should be
implemented upon careful consideration of necessity at the affected site・ Need for preparation of emergency aid funds by the state and people and financial management
・ Train specialists in disaster reduction measures and disaster countermeasures
・ Enhance specialized management of acceptance and provision of emergency supplies
・ Plan disaster reduction bases such as layout of schools (distance more than 800 m from coasts intsunami-prone areas)
・ Reinforce disaster reduction management ability of teachers(2) Transfer of Japanese tsunami culture
The ADRC participated in the PARTIC meeting, observed details of the meeting, and reported briefly ontsunami disasters which have occurred in the past in Japan and the world.
Believing that it is our duty to transfer to Papua New Guinea the knowledge obtained from experiencing
tsunami disasters in the past in Japan and tsunami disaster reduction measures, we conducted a fieldsurvey in Okushiri Island, Hokkaido one week prior to our visit to Papua New Guinea, and also reported
at the PARTIC meeting the lessons learnt from the Okushiri Island tsunami disaster during the Hokkaido
South-West Coast earthquake in 1993 and the tsunami disaster reduction measures that followed. We

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believe that we were able to transfer the experience from Okushiri Island which can be applied to Papua
New Guinea, as well as the Japanese tsunami culture. One example is introduced below.
Actual situation of Okushiri Tsunami DisasterAt 10:17p.m on July 12, 1993, Okushiri Island was hit by a tremendous disaster from an earthquake(Hokkaido Southwest Offshore Earthquake) with the epicenter at the depth of 34km off the southwest
coast of Hokkaido. This earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 7.8, the largest so far on theobservation record; the total damage caused by the earthquake to this island soared to 66.4 billion yen,with human casualties alone mounting to 172 fatalities, 26 missing and 143 injured. Being an islandwith a population of approximately 4,000 and in the scale of the annual budget at approximately 5billion Yen, the magnitude of this disaster for the town of Okushiri surpasses comprehension.
The earthquake first brought disaster to Okushiri Island. In the Okushiri District, immediately after theearthquake, the Hotel “YOYOSO”, restaurant and kerosene storage tanks exploded due to a majorcollapse of a bluff at Mt. Kannonzan, with 29 victims including hotel guests.
The tsunami followed, regarding the earthquake, the Sapporo District Meteorological Observatory
issued a warning for a major tsunami on the coast of the Japan Sea in Hokkaido at 10:22 p.m. Although
this alarm had been issued only 5 minutes after the earthquake, it was too late for most areas as Okushiri
Island was too close to the epicenter.
In the Inaho District at the northernmost
point of the island, the first tidal waves hit
2~3 minutes after the earthquake, continuing

Damage caused by the tsunami disaster in
Okushiri Island and the Aonae District,
Hokkaido

on to the western coast, annihilating thecommunities including Monai District. In
Aonae and Hatumatumae districts at thesouthernmost tip, the first tidal wave hit 5
minutes after the earthquake.
Adding to the damage caused by theearthquake and tsunami, fire heavily
increased the damages. Immediately after theearthquake, two cases of fire on board a ship
and in one building had occurred. The causes
for the fire were not specified, but weresurmised as being triggered by theearthquake or tsunami. In the Aonae District,the township was almost totally demolishedby the spreading fire that continued to 9:20 a.m. the following morning from immediately after theearthquake.
The junction of three streets that separated
dead and alive
On the importance of knowledge on
disasters① Lesson from Aonae District
This 3-forked road (photo below) surrounds
the lighthouse located to the north of Aonae
promontory. Immediately after the Hokkaido
Southwest Offshore Earthquake, some of theresidents of the Aonae District escaped tothe central road that lead straight to the highground where the lighthouse was standing,and these people were saved. On the other
hand, those residents who tried to escape by83

■□ ADRC Annual Report 2000

cars tried to escape on the right or left
motorway, but were caught in a traffic jam
and hit by the tsunami, so that many losttheir lives. From these facts, it was madeknown that, “escape to high ground should
be made immediately, as tsunami will strike
after an earthquake”. This disaster also madeit evident that one should, “avoid escapesby car”. These seem to be trifling matters,
but they reveal extremely important truths in
the countermeasures against tsunami
disasters. This point was also stressed in
Papua New Guinea.

Residence in Inaho District that divided thefates of those on the first and second floors② Lesson from Inaho District
The second example is from the house(photo below) in the Inaho District. This
house endured the tsunami, but the first andsecond floors divided the fates of the family members. The grandmother and eldest daughter on thesecond floor evaded the disaster, but the mother and younger daughter on the first floor were swept
away by the tsunami. From this experience, the important lesson that should be told in Papua New
Guinea is, “escape to high areas before the tsunami arrives”. If you were to escape into a building, run
to the upper floors, but if there is a palm tree instead of a building, it is important to climb it.
③ Other countermeasures against disasters – No.1 (Indicating height of tsunami)
Other than the above, Okushiri Island has handed down valuable experiences. Some examples are
introduced here. The indication for tsunami danger zones has an important role informing people thatthe site is dangerous when disasters occur. As examples, the heights of tsunami are indicated at fishingharbors, seawalls, or above cliffs. Here are some of them:
Left Tsunami height indication near Aonae Fishing Harbor – 11.7m
Right Tsunami height indication on a seawall – 11.0m④ Other countermeasures against disasters – No.2 (Indicating evacuation site)
It is also important to indicate shelters. They should be immediately recognizable all times to theneighborhood residents.
The indication of evacuation route is next. Here (in this photo), the steps to the shrines are theevacuation routes. As the hills are close to the sea in Japan, evacuation routes are easier to be drawn up,

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but in the case of the Papua New Guinea coastal area where the topography is flat, the facilities should
be constructed inland as far away from the coast as possible. According to expert opinion, it should be atleast 800m away from the coast. Of course, it would be advantageous to plant a grove of trees on the
coast to absorb the tsunami energy.
Indication of evacuation site

Indication of evacuation route⑤ Other countermeasures against disasters – No.3 (Disaster reduction development data)
Data to devise the popularization / illuminating of disaster reduction knowledge is also important. In
Okushiri-cho town, a “Okushiri Island disaster prevention handbook” was printed and distributed to theentire town. In this handbook, everyday preparations regarding wind / water disasters in addition toearthquakes and tsunami are explained in a form that is easy to understand. The “Hokkaido Southwest
Offshore Earthquake / Okushiri-cho Record” explains in detail the facts of tsunami disasters and theprogress of Okushiri-cho as a result of the disaster. It is also important to share experiences and lessons
from the disaster with such material.
Furthermore, there is the “Okushiri Tsunami-kan”(Tsunami-center) that opened in autumn of 2000. It isbelieved that such material preserving facilities should hand down the valuable experiences and lessons
from the tsunami disaster for years to come. In Papua New Guinea, it is also important to hand downdisaster experience in some form as reminder in addition to building the memorial and indicating thetsunami danger zones. By doing so, we may be able to avoid the loss of lives in the future to similardisasters. It is extremely important to record the history of disasters and preserve them in such a manner.

5) Solutions to countermeasures against tsunami disasters (No.2) – Papua New
Guinea Tsunami Disaster reduction development / illuminative data)
It has been mentioned earlier that Professor Hugh Davies, Chairman of Papua New Guinea Government/ National Disaster Reduction Development Committee, requested the Asian Disaster Reduction
Center’s (ADRC) cooperation in creating the development / illuminative data against tsunami reductionin Papua New Guinea. Details are provided in Chapter 6. Here only the following points are discussed:
The Papua New Guinea Government / National Disaster Reduction Development Committee isplanning on the production of a disaster reduction video, tsunami reduction poster, and tsunami
reduction pamphlet based on the experience of the Aitape tsunami and is carrying these projects out aspossible. The tsunami reduction poster and pamphlet have already been produced based on this policy.
Production / distribution / utilization of such illuminating materials are considered important for
intensification of a tsunami reduction system in this country and future preparations for tsunami
reduction systems by related nations. The ADRC hopes to cooperate as much as possible, and continue
to provide its support in improving tsunami reduction systems in every nation.

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4-2. Identification of Needs and Resources
The ADRC has dedicated its efforts to identifying the needs and resources of member countries by
sharing disaster reduction information through the establishment of databases with the aim of promoting
disaster reduction cooperation in the Asian region. In FY2000, in addition to the above Papua New
Guinea Tsunami Disaster Reduction Awareness Project, the ADRC launched new Asian region
cooperation projects to produce specific results for reducing the damage from natural disasters.

4-2-1. Proposals of Disaster Reduction Joint Projects from Member Countries
The 2nd ADRC International Meeting in December 1999 adopted the resolution of implementing a small
project to promote disaster reduction cooperation in the Asian region, for the purpose of promoting
cooperation to resolve the individual issues of Asian countries as the common issues of the member
countries of the ADRC.
To embody this resolution, in FY2000, the ADRC decided to provide support mainly in the form oftechnology and funds to disaster reduction projects applied by member countries, in an effort tocontribute to the reduction of disaster damage in the countries which applied, as well throughout over
the Asian region. In response to the invitation by the ADRC, there were 14 applications from amongst
the eight member countries. Details are as follows.
ADRC plans to examine whether these proposals can be implemented.

Table 4-1-1-1 Lists of Applications from Member Countries for Disaster Reduction Cooperation
Project
Name of Project

Cambodia

Human Resource
Development on Disaster
Management

・Requested training for staff managing regional disaster
reduction in 3 provinces. Trainer teams available.
・Requested dispatch of specialists for implementation 1yearof the dissemination program, strengthening disaster
reduction system and its training

US$ 10,000

Research on Indonesian
Decentralization andDisaster Management
SystemHolding national conferences by people in charge ofdisaster reduction in nation, province, region tostrengthen disaster reduction management

US$90,000

Indonesia

Duration

1year

Training for disaster reduction at the community level
Community-based Floodof Bandung City seriously damaged by floods because 14months
Mitigation in Bandung Cityof increasing population

Developing Disaster
Management Cooperation
between the two Districts:
Amagasaki City and
Malang City
Development of an
Emergency Management
Kazakhstan Information System for
Almaty based on
GIS-technology

Mongolia

Contents of Project

Cost(Estimated)

Country

Disaster reduction cooperation including informationand personnel exchange between Amagasaki City and
Malang City -Aiming to be a model of cooperation in
the future-

1year

Development of emergency management system of GIS
2years andbase which covers Almaty industrial area, and fostering
6months
personnel regarding this project

Public Awareness Raising
・Promotion of disaster reduction education
Against Frequent Wild
Fires and Other Natural
・Implementation of dissemination activities
Disasters in Mongolia

86

4months

US$ 18,000

US$ 16,500

US$ 1,200,000

US$ 10,000

Chapter 4Country

Nepal

Singapore

Vietnam

SriLanka

Promotion of Cooperation on Disaster Reduction by Identification of Needs and Resources

Name of ProjectContents of Project

Duration□■

Cost(Estimated)

Enhancing DisasterTo strengthen the capability of the disaster relief
Management Capabilities of section, Ministry of Home Affairs: establish a disaster1year
the Disaster Relief Section of reduction information center, develop a system, train
the Ministry of Home Affairs the staff in charge, and invite specialists

US$0・Disaster reduction education (for teachers, social
workers, women leaders, scout and health workers)
Raising Public Awareness for・Planning and preparing posters and putting them up 6months
Disaster Reduction
・Planning and implementation of public relations byradio

US$ 10,000

Specialized Collapsed
Building Rescue Course

Provision of technical training for rescue operations incollapsed buildings and receiving the participants
2weeksfrom member countries into this training

US$ 1,000
per person

Headquarter Control Roomfor Disaster Management ofVietnamEstablishment of the headquarter control room toaccumulate and analyze the information concernig
2yearsdisaster reduction, which could help effective support
for disastrous areasUS$0570,00US$
0100,00Use of NOAA Data for Flood
Disaster Monitoring in theDevelopment of the flood monitoring system of
Mekong River Delta of
Mekong River Delta by making good use of NOAA 1year
Southern Vietnam in Near
information
Real Time
Training Course on Natural Special training for staff who work in natural disaster1monthDisaster Management
control

100,00

US$ 10,000

Material for Training Course
Making sets of training material for staff who work in
on Natural Disaster3monthsnatural disaster control
Management

US$ 9,000

Human Resource
Development on Disaster
Management

US$ 10,000

Training courses to develop personnel resources on
disaster management in local governments

10 months

As a result, the following were clarified. First it was found that there are more needs than resources
except for the “Disaster Reduction Training” in Singapore.
These needs can be grouped into those that involve comparatively small application expenses (about
10,000 dollars) and those that do not. For large scale projects like Indonesia’s “Research on Indonesian
Decentralization and Disaster Management System”, Kazakhstan’s “Development of an Emergency
Management Information System for Almaty based on GIS-technology”, Nepal’s “Enhancing Disaster
Management Capabilities of the Disaster Relief Section of the Ministry of Home Affairs” and Vietnam’s“Headquarter Control Room for Disaster Management of Vietnam”, the strong needs for thedevelopment of systems to enhance disaster management of member country government organizations
was clarified.These projects will be supported while cooperating with the World Bank and international
cooperation organizations like JICA. On the other hand, small projects costing about 10,000 dollars
indicated the strong need for educational and training programs and awareness programs to develop
human resources.

4-2-2. Policies on Joint Projects
The ADRC reviewed the possibilities of cooperation with the main aim of satisfying the following
needs through regional joint projects:87

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1) Enhancement of disaster reduction ability in countries proposing projects
The proposing country is required to resolve its own disaster reduction problems through the project orenhance its disaster reduction ability.
The ADRC will contribute to enhancing the country’s disaster reduction ability through technical andfinancial support.
2) Sharing of achievements and lessons from individual projects
The achievements and lessons learned by the country concerned shall be provided to member countries
and countries facing similar problems by sharing reports and through the Internet.
Concept of Asian Region Joint Projects(Technical support)

ADRC

Country implementing project（プロジェクトか(Financial support) ら得られる成果、教訓）（Achievements and lessons learned from project）

Sharing of information（Advice and suggestions from member countries）

Other member countries

4-2-3. Details of Projects
The ADRC reviewed the 14 projects submitted as well as importance of individual needs and whether
the projects were applicable to other member countries in accordance with the above policies, anddecided to implement the following four projects
Table 4-2-1-1 Joint Projects in the Asian Region Selected
Country Implementing Project
Cambodia
Indonesia
Nepal
Sri Lanka

Project Name
Human Resource Development on Disaster Management
Community-based Flood Mitigation in Bandung City
Raising Public Awareness for Disaster Reduction
Human Resource Development on Disaster Management

Each project is described below.

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