Science defiance?

It was just after 4pm, and Suranjana Tewari was on a bus in the Japanese Alps. Suddenly a siren sounded on her phone. "Earthquake Early Warning," read the text with it. "Strong shaking is expected soon. Stay calm and seek shelter nearby." The bus came to a halt, and the passengers held their breath. 

The earthquake that followed lasted only a minute and a half. But it was enough to make buildings collapse and rip roads wide open. Tremors were felt more than 300 miles from the epicentreThe central focus of something. In an earthquake, the point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus. .

Over 32,000 homes were left without power in bitterly cold conditions. Thousands of people spent the night in evacuation centres.¹

An immediate worry was that it would be trigger a tsunamiA Japanese word describing a succession of waves caused when an earthquake or volcano displaces a large body of water. like the one that devastated Japan in 2011. Wiping out whole towns, it claimed more than 18,000 victims.²

Luckily the tsunami never came. But by yesterday morning 48 people were known to have died.

To make things worse, five people on a plane delivering aid died when it hit a passenger jet at Haneda Airport. Amazingly, everyone on the airliner escaped alive.

"This is the equivalent of a major earthquake coming in the middle of Christmas dinner for British people," said Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Kanda University. ""For the Japanese, New Year's is the day everyone gathers at their extended family's home and has a meal together."

According to an expert on geology, Japan suffers a lot of earthquakes because it is on the Pacific RimThe countries on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. : "Tectonic platesPieces of the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle. They are roughly 100km thick and are moving slowly.  are being thrust back down into the Earth's mantleThe layer between the Earth's outer core and the crust. The semi-solid layer of rock is made mostly out of iron, magnesium and silicon.  all the way around the Pacific."

Japan has one of the most advanced warning systems in the world. It is also very good at designing buildings to withstand earthquakes.

Since 1923, all new buildings have had to be reinforced with steel and concrete. And since 1981 they have also needed rubber shock absorbers.³

Is science the answer to everything?

Yes: Without Japan's sophisticated building techniques and early warning system, the damage and casualties would have been much worse. When developed further they will make the country earthquake-proof.

No: The natural forces involved are so enormous that their effects can never be entirely neutralised. Tectonic plates will continue to move and continue to cause terrifying devastation.

Or: However brilliant the answers provided by science, our survival ultimately depends on luck and organisation. Without them, more people would have died in the air crash than in the earthquake.