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Overcoming Natural Disasters
The land of Japan is subjected to very severe natural conditions including earthquakes, heavy rainfall, heavy snow, steep topography and vulnerable geological features, resulting in a higher propensity for the occurrence of natural disasters. Therefore, road improvement that can prevent the occurrence of disasters as well as to prevent the spread of disasters and speed up post-disaster restoration are required.
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 Earthquake
The land area of Japan comprises only 0.25% of the world’s total, but Japan is one of the foremost countries to have earthquakes, the probability a large-scale earthquake (magnitude of 6.0 or more) occurring is about 23%.
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1995, Damage to roads caused by the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake |
Heavy Rain
Precipitous mountains cover Japanese land, and the annual average rainfall is 1,730 mm which significantly exceeds the world average of 900mm. Therefore the risk of disasters triggered by heavy rain is high.
Especially in fiscal year 2004, 10 typhoons (the record high observed in a single year)
hit the islands of Japan and brought vast damages.
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2004, Damage to roads caused by heavy
rain due to Typhoon No. 21 |
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Heavy Snow
More than 60% of the land area of Japan is snowy and cold. The population density is 112/km2, exceeding 2/km2 and 12/km2 of Norway which is also an area with heavy snowfall and cold regions.
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2004, Impact on road traffic caused by
heavy snowfall in Kitami, Hokkaido
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