“Together with the February New Zealand earthquake, the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeastern coast of Japan’s Honshu Island today, provide a stark reminder of the geophysical volatility of the Pacific Rim and the ways in which human settlements all around the Rim from Tokyo to San Francisco, Christchurch to Valparaiso, are linked to one another.

“Today’s event is yet another test of the disaster preparedness and response systems of not only the Japanese, but of all the countries and cities that sit along the Pacific, which is also known as the Ring of Fire. While images from Japan show that there are clear limits to what a city or region can prepare for, there are positive signs that worldwide and domestic alert and response systems were set in motion.

“What we are witnessing today are new heights in public awareness of the global, systemic dimensions of natural disasters. This does not in and of itself guarantee fewer human and material losses, but it does speak to national and global changes in outlook toward disaster and the circulation of knowledge on how best to prepare and respond to them.

“The story after today will not only be about the Japanese resilience to these major events, but also to the ways in which countries, cities, systems and individuals around the Pacific responded and managed the crisis.”

Contact Enrique Silva ersilva@bu.edu or call Lauren Davalla in Public Relations at 617-358-1688

“This event will have a profound effect. Japan is no stranger to calamities and disaster has special, if not unique, meaning there. People have been waiting for The Big One, another Tokyo earthquake, since 1923 when Tokyo was flattened.

“The Kobe earthquake in 1995 had a profound effect because of lack of government preparedness and the immediate civilian response of students and workers. Now the army is immediately there.

“And we mustn’t forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The mantra is ‘we are a narrow island country with little or no natural resources.’ There is a sense of national vulnerability, fragility. Moms make padded earthquake helmets for school kids and homes and all have earthquake emergency kits.”

Contact Merry White, 617-353-7711, corky@bu.edu

Colleen Dalton, Assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences; Investigates the structure of the Earth’s interior using seismic waves generated by earthquakes

Contact 617-358-5433, dalton@bu.edu

Thomas Berger, Associate professor of International Relations; Expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy

Contact 617-353-5351, tuberger@bu.edu

William Grimes, Chair of the Department of International Relations; Expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy; Helped to found BU Center for the Study of Asia

Contact 617-353-9420, wgrimes@bu.edu

 Merry White, Professor of Anthropology; Expert on Japanese culture and can offer perspective on the unique meaning of ‘disaster’ in Japan.

Contact corky@bu.edu, or call Dick Taffe in Public Relations at 617-353-4626