Natural Disaster Response

Tohoku Earthquake & Tsunami- Fukushima Nuclear Disaster    

On Friday March 11, 2011 an earthquake hit just off the coast of Japan. The earthquake had a magnitude of 9.0 and was categorized as an undersea megathrust earthquake. The earthquake occurred at an underwater depth of about 19 miles below the surface. The earthquake also caused a tsunami that effected most of coastal Japan. The tsunami had an upthrust of 19-26 feet along a wide seabed that was 37 miles off the coast of Tohoku. An estimated wave height of 128ft hit the Omoe peninsula. The tsunami was tall enough to break over the 18 foot sea wall that used to be the largest precautionary sea wall in the world. The earthquake and tsunami combination amounted to 15,889 deaths, 6,152 injured persons, and 2,601 people were reported missing. The estimated cost of the earthquake and tsunami is around 250-500 billion U.S. dollars. The events in Tohoku left about 25 million tons of debris in Japan’s coastal cities and towns. The tsunami alone displaced 340,000 people from the Tohoku region. Shortages of food, fuel, water, shelter, and medicine were abundant despite the mobilization of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. The Japanese Red Cross reported 1 billion dollars in donations and Japan’s foreign ministry accounted for 116 countries and 28 international organizations that offered help. After this double disaster Japan has made sure to list and keep up with all possible relief charities and countries who assisted in the past. 

Fukushima-Daiichi today

Fukushima-Daiichi before (left) and during (right)

Because of Japan’s coastal location and seismic activity, the entire island itself is incredibly susceptible to almost any sort of natural disaster (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc.) And because of how narrow the island is, any natural disaster that hits Japan is more likely to cause more widespread damage. Since Japan is known for its large power in Nuclear energy, natural disasters became more of an issue in case of power outages and subsequent radiation leaks. Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is a large plant on the eastern coast of Japan. Fukushima had precautions in place in case of a power outage. Operating units were designed to automatically shut down and backup diesel generators in the basement of the turbine buildings were to be used for the cooling towers' fuel. In response to the earthquake, media outlets knew to immediately put out tsunami warnings and alert the citizens in coastal cities to flee to higher ground. When the earthquake occurred the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th reactors in the plant had been previously shut down for scheduled maintenance. Reactors 1, 2, and 3 were automatically shut down by an automated system after the earthquake and remaining decay heat was

being cooled by the backup diesel generators. The tsunami that followed with as high as 46 feet waves disabled the generators that were cooling the reactors since the reactors were only designed to handle up to 19 foot waves. In the following three weeks there was evidence of partial nuclear meltdowns in the three unprotected units, which were supposedly caused by hydrogen gas in reactors 3 and 1 and a suspected explosion in unit 2, which could have damaged the primary containment vessel. In the case of Fukushima, damages were minimal in the case of human casualties with only 37 workers had physical injuries, 2 had radiation buns, and no deaths. The estimated cost of Fukushima's disaster is around 74 billion U.S. dollars. Also, because of the nuclear radiation leak and subsequent evacuation of a 12 mile radius caused 159,128 people to be evicted and displaced from their homes with little to no compensation. On August 1, 2013, Japanese Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi approved creating a structure to develop the technologies and processes required to dismantle the four reactors involved in the Fukushima accident. The entire process will take about 40 years to complete because of the danger involved with the radiation from the remaining cesium rod melt.

Globalization: Coca-Cola

From Coca-Cola's start in 1886 to now, the brand is now selling in over 200 countries worldwide. Based on the best global brand study done in 2011 by Interbrand, Coca-Cola was placed at number one as the world’s most valuable brand. Last year alone Coca-Cola reported around 1.8 billion drinks sold. In the 1900s a demand for the global availability arose when U.S. military began occupying Cuba and Panama. To meet the demand, bottling plants were placed in these countries. Once the benefits of cost was recognized, other plants were established in Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii. It was publicly introduced to the global market when it became the first commercial sponsor in the 1928 Olympic games. In the 1960s the company decided to expand into other sodas and flavors with the introduction of Fanta, Sprite, and Fresca. This expansion also came with the purchase of the Minute Maid company which introduced an entire line of juices and uncarbonated drinks. One of the biggest expansion came in 1982 when Coca-Cola introduced Diet Coke which quickly became the largest selling low calorie soft drink in America. Another huge part of the globalization of Coca-Cola is the way it has been marketed. Coca-Cola's marketing has become popular through the use of jingles, eye-catching commercials, and catchy slogans. Coca-Cola has also been able to evolve to the different tastes across all ages, continents, and taste pallets. For example, in Japan they have a green tea flavored Coca-Cola drink. Many of the changes in society associated with the Coca-Cola company are health related. A lot of parents began to be concerned with the amounts of sugar and caffeine in the drinks. Because of these concerns, many schools have made restrictions, or even banned to encourage children and teens to choose healthier alternatives.

"Coca-Cola encapsulates what happened in the 20th century: the rise of consumer capitalism and the emergence of America as a superpower," Tom Standage said. "It's globalization in a bottle."

Coca-Cola has become a symbol of America, and because of this many countries have either embraced or rejected the entire brand. In 1949 Coca-Cola wanted to open a plant in Israel but was denied a building permit. In response to several claims that Coca-Cola was boycotting Israel to please the much larger Arab market, the Arab League Boycotted the Coca-Cola company from 1968 to 1991. Other Middle Eastern countries have also boycotted Coca-Cola, Like Malaysia in 2009 after an Israeli attack in Gaza, which was also rooted in the fact that Coca-Cola is a big U.S. company. Even just last year, a pro-Palestinian hacker group targeted Coca-Cola’s website. Coca-Cola has gained so much global notoriety since its beginnings and continues to grow with the expansion of products, availability, and publicity.