Support for Recovery and Reconstruction after the

Great East Japan Earthquake

The role of the Tohoku Bureau of Telecommunications
Tohoku Bureau of Telecommunications
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

1. Damage caused by the earthquake
At 2:46 pm on March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake of
magnitude 9.0 struck off the coast of Sanriku. Reaching level 7
on the Japanese scale of seismic intensity, this earthquake caused a
huge 10-meter tsunami along the Tohoku coastline.
The destruction caused by this tsunami was particularly
severe. With regard to communication facilities, about 1.9 million
fixed lines were affected and as many as 29,000 mobile phone
base stations were put out of
action. This disrupted systems
including the local government's
Administrative Radio System
for Disaster Use, and in many
regions this resulted in residents
and government organizations
finding themselves completely
Scene of destruction Onagawa-cho, unable to share or gather
Miyagi Prefecture (3/25/2011) information.
2. Support for emergency restoration in the
immediate aftermath
A f ter t he d isaster,
the Tohoku Bureau of
Telecommunications sent
staff to the affected area
to check on the state of
damage, and distributed
approximately 3,000 two-
way radios and 13,000 radio
receivers.
Also, at public facilities FWA antenna VSAT antenna
such as city halls, town halls and refuge shelters where all means
of communication had been cut off, we installed FWA (Fixed
Wireless Access) and VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)
systems to allow people to share information and use the Internet.
We also contributed to the granting of licenses to temporary
FM radio stations set up by local authorities to provide affected
people with community notices and other information, and to
making it easier and quicker to obtain licenses for radio stations
used as a means of contact in disaster situations.
In addition, the Tohoku Bureau of Telecommunications sent
long-term delegates to local governments in the affected areas,
and actively supported their emergency measures such as the
introduction and installation of communication equipment and
the establishment and operation of temporary disaster-related
broadcasting stations.
reconstruction of the affected areas, including the provision of
healthcare, regional computerization and disaster prevention
measures, and we are supporting the efforts of local authorities in
resolving these issues effectively and efficiently through the use of
information and communication technology (ICT).
Figure 1: Supporting the reconstruction efforts of local
authorities
4. Building a reconstruction support system
The local authorities in regions hit by the disaster are trying to
promote the relocation of resident groups to areas where tsunamis
pose no danger, and the creation of new towns for the future. To
achieve this, it is essential that improvements are made to the
communication and broadcasting infrastructure.
For these improvements to be made speedily, the Tohoku
Bureau of Telecommunications established the Tohoku
Earthquake Disaster ICT Restoration Promotion Liaison Council,
which is calling on related institutions to participate in discussions
and exchanges of information aimed at reconstruction. This
council is working to support the improvement of broadband
communications (using optical fibers and the like), mobile
telephony, and terrestrial digital broadcasting.
Moreover, using Onagawa as a model of a town subjected
to widespread damage (even though it is a relatively small
municipality), we set up an investigative commission of experienced
scientists and other experts to support the computerized planning
decisions geared towards reconstruction. It is expected that the
results of this investigation will contribute to the computerization
of other similarly affected local authorities.
Figure 2: Tohoku Earthquake Disaster ICT Restoration
Promotion Liaison Council

3. Supporting recovery and reconstruction by

delivering ICT to affected local governments
Using auxiliary systems set up to restore telecommunication
facilities affected by the disaster, we are supporting the restoration
of facilities such as the Administrative Radio System for Disaster
Use, regional public networks, and CATV.
We are also tackling many issues aimed at restoration and

New Breeze Spring 2013 1