{"id":61862,"date":"2011-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-experts-share-hope-for-japan\/"},"modified":"2011-04-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-07T00:00:00","slug":"uri-experts-share-hope-for-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2011\/04\/uri-experts-share-hope-for-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 experts share hope for Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 7, 2011 \u2013 Despite the devastation suffered in Japan in recent weeks, the country\u2019s aptitude for planning and recovery has 溏心vlog免费B站 experts optimistic that the nation will recover.<\/p>\n


\nOrganized by 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate students and faculty members from Japan, the University held a panel discussion titled \u201cGANBARE! 溏心vlog免费B站 FOR JAPAN,\u201d which brought together experts in history, ocean engineering, nuclear engineering and supply chain management to put the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters into perspective. Loosely translated, ganbare means \u201cgo for it\u201d in Japanese, reflecting the country\u2019s spirit of perseverance. Referencing that spirit seemed appropriate, as the panel members concurred that Japan was better suited than the rest of the world to respond in the aftermath of the massive disaster. <\/p>\n


\nWith a death toll exceeding 27,000 and a litany of long-term problems facing the country, the level of devastation had more to do with an almost unimaginable set of circumstances than a lack of readiness.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cHad there only been a 9.0 earthquake, we\u2019d be marveling at a culture that has the most prepared people in the world,\u201d said Timothy George, professor of history with a focus on postwar Japanese history and governance, as well as environmental history.<\/p>\n


\nGeorge, who lived in Japan for 16 years, said the combination of the earthquake, numerous aftershocks, tsunami and nuclear disasters were too much for any country to withstand. He pointed out that Japan has recovered from disasters in the past, namely the Kanto earthquake of 1923 (which killed between 100,000 and 140,000 people), the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 and the Hanshin earthquake of 1995.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe optimist in me hopes this will be a turning point and Japan will rediscover itself and where it is going, but only time will tell.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nStephan Grilli, distinguished professor from the Department of Ocean Engineering, provided an explanation of the magnitude of the earthquake and tsunami, the power of which he said caused Japan itself to move permanently by six meters.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cPeople like to picture a tsunami as a big wave that hit the shore, but unfortunately there also is the water that comes in behind the wave, sometimes for as much as 15 to 20 minutes,\u201d Grilli said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the water coming in. It\u2019s the water with all the debris that is being carried along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBahram Nassersharif, distinguished professor in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering, concurred with Grilli, who called Japan the \u201cbest prepared country in the world to face disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIn discussing the nuclear power plants in Japan, Nassersharif pointed out that the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in the towns of Okuma and Futaba was built to withstand a ground acceleration of 0.45g, about an 8.4 on the Richter scale. The earthquake last month reached a peak ground acceleration of 0.51g, or a 9.0.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cGetting hit by the tsunami after the earthquake is what caused the real devastation,\u201d Nassersharif said. \u201cEarthquakes have been prominent in Japan\u2019s history. The level of this one was beyond anything anyone could have imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAmong the things he said could have possibly helped the nuclear plant disasters were extra generators at each plant and more battery power. Nassersharif said the United States makes sure to have both measures in place at its plants.<\/p>\n


\nPerhaps the most optimistic of the panel members was Douglas Hales, associated professor of operations and supply chain management in the College of Business Administration. Despite widespread predictions of economic collapse in Japan, Hales said there was reason to believe that the country would recover.<\/p>\n


\nHe conceded that the country would clearly suffer, particularly in four main industries \u2013 automobiles, computer memory chips, food, and tourism. However, Hales pointed to several reasons to believe the country could recover. He believed Japan\u2019s seafood export industry \u2013 which has been restricted in 25 countries around the world \u2013 would be able to get back online after just 90 days, and the country\u2019s lack of external debt would allow for faster economic recovery.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cNinety-five percent of Japan\u2019s debt is owed to Japanese citizens,\u201d Hales said. \u201cIt does not have a lot of debt outside of the country. It doesn\u2019t sound great now, but Japan will recover.\u201d<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 7, 2011 \u2013 Despite the devastation suffered in Japan in recent weeks, the country\u2019s aptitude for planning and recovery has 溏心vlog免费B站 experts optimistic that the nation will recover. Organized by 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate students and faculty members from Japan, the University held a panel discussion titled \u201cGANBARE! 溏心vlog免费B站 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}