Managing Mass Death in Times of Multiple Crisis: Lessons from the 2011 Japan Disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic
Abstract as pdf
Corresponding Author:
Sébastien Penmellen Boret
Tohoku University Japan
boret@irides.tohoku.ac.jp
Author(s):
This presentation aims to understand and prepare better for the challenges of mass death management in times of crisis. The study begins with a socio-cultural analysis of the treatment of the victims’ bodies during the Great East Japan Earthquake. The presenter draws ethnographic and literature research to identify three main challenges. The first challenge consisted in the recovery of the bodies. The police, SDF, firefighters, paramedics and others carried out most of these tasks. They were responsible for transporting the bodies to the temporary morgue and, at times, to the temporary cemetery. Despite their efforts, 2,529 people remain missing. The second problem was the lack of facilities able to house the bodies. Some cities and towns had to deal were not prepared to deal with hundreds, let alone thousands of bodies. Local authorities decided to convert a gymnasium, bowling plaza, and so on into huge morgues to face the situation. The bodies of hundreds of victims were laid out in these mortuaries to be identified and returned to their families. However, many of the crematoria were damaged beyond repair, and some had no fuel supplies. In response, the central government allowed the construction of temporary mass graves and full burial that is no longer practiced in Japan. To further our understanding of mass death management in multi-hazards scenarios, the second part of this presentation examines how the scenario of the 2011 tsunami could become more complex during a pandemic. The disposal of the bodies of Covid-19 in Japan, New York and France exposes the particularities of the storage of the dead bodies of pandemics. The author also points out the similarities observed between the 2011 tsunami, such as temporary morgues and public health hazards. This presentation concludes with a discussion about the need to develop frameworks of mass death management adapted to multi-hazards scenarios. The author argues that the success of such frameworks depends on their understanding of the role of culture of death and prepare better for the challenges of mass death management in times of crisis and pandemics.
Sharing Disaster Experience, Research and Innovation: A multi-hazard approach for risk management after Covid-19