Raising Disaster Risk Reduction Awareness, 30 years from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

April 25, 2025, ten years after the l Gorkha Nepal Earthquake of 2015, a memorial ceremony was held in remembrance of the lives that were lost. Below, I will introduce the current situation of Nepal, where awareness of disaster risk reduction is slowly fading away, despite the traces of damage from the Earthquake still seen in major parts of the city.

Even though I was still a preschooler, I clearly remember the heartache I felt upon hearing on the news about the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, its large fires and casualties growing day by day. This experience was what led me to my interest and career in Disaster Risk Reduction. I am currently the person-in-charge for sectors of Disaster Risk Reduction (DDR) and Climate Change at JICA Nepal Office, with experience also working with JICA in the Philippines and Myanmar.

Similar to Japan, Nepal is a country susceptible to natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods and landslides. The Gorkha Nepal Earthquake of April 2015 caused the death of around 9000 people. Recently, in September 2024, the heaviest rainfall was recorded in the region since 1970, causing severe flooding and landslides leading to over 200 casualties. Damage caused by such floods and landslides are a large concern in Nepal, as frequency of such heavy and concentrated rainfall seems to be on the rise.

Following the Earthquake in 2015, JICA has provided assistance to Nepal through disaster recovery planning, housing reconstruction and school reconstruction by utilizing Japan’s experience on Build Back Better. On April 25 2025, ten years after the earthquake, memorial events were held in Kathmandu. Participants of these events observed a moment of silence at 11:56 AM, the time that the 7.8 magnitude earthquake had struck. At two events, JICA organized a booth and distributed bandanas to schoolchildren who participated. These bandanas included diagrams explanations in Nepali, to raise awareness on how to respond in times of disaster.

No one wants to remember about the painful memories at the time of disaster- this is why such memories are swept away into the past. However, not allowing for these bad memories to fade away, maintaining awareness on disaster risk reduction can save lives. In cities still surrounded by buildings affected by the Earthquake, yet where awareness is slowly declining, the main challenge in Nepal is how to sustain disaster risk reduction awareness among its citizens.

In the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, where 6,400 people or more were declared dead or missing, a survey showed that 80% of rescues were executed by family and neighbors, while only 20% were done by national forces such as fire departments, police and self-defense forces. In another survey, results showed that over 90% of rescues were self-rescue or rescue by friends, family or neighbors, while a mere 1.7% was conducted by rescue teams.

In times of large-scale disasters such as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the limits of Public (governmental)help were revealed. Meanwhile, concepts of Self-help and Mutual-help were highlighted as soft power which had immense power in supporting citizens. (*1)

In the past, I worked as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer for two years in the Philippines, with the goal of raising community awareness of disaster risk reduction. The Philippines, like Nepal, is a disaster-prone country, but reflection on past disasters was not done enough. Disaster risk reduction education did exist, but there was not a sufficient done to raise awareness of citizens who were uninterested in disaster risk reduction. To tackle this situation and encourage citizens to think proactively about disasters, I introduced a disaster risk reduction education game, “Move Philippines!” (a remake of a Japanese game, “Iza Kaeru Caravan!”(*2)) to my assignment, and had 3,369 people play the game over a period of two years. Even today, 9 years after my tenure was completed, this activity continues.

Awareness on disaster risk reduction still remains low in Nepal, and there is a need in the educational fields to provide disaster risk reduction education and materials which are tailored to each region. A non-profit organization originating in Kobe City, Plus Arts(*3), has been conducting their activities from 2015, currently through a JICA Partnership Program (JPP) Technical Cooperation project. Within the project, Plus Arts is disseminating disaster risk reduction education in school and preparing students for disaster through utilization of games such as “Iza Kaeru Caravan!”. The end goal of the JPP project is to nurture future leaders who will continue disaster risk reduction education activities. There is also hope for these new leaders to develop new educational materials such as locally tailormade disaster risk education programs, and items such as the bandanas that JICA distributed at the booths to commemorate 2015 Earthquake.

While we strive to conduct activities which maintain awareness on disaster risk reduction, risk of disaster is rising in the developing countries due to rapid urbanization and globalization as well as climate change. It is essential for the public sector, such as central and local governments, to reduce such risks. JICA, as an agency for bilateral cooperation, will continue to assist countries in minimizing casualties, affected populations and economic loss, as well as support to build disaster resilient countries, through its many forms of cooperation.