"Many of those solutions worked in this case and prevented, for example, the Shinkansen from suffering serious damage.".
JR East’s urgent earthquake detection and alarm system (UrEDAS) is made up of seismometers installed at 97 locations.
The quakeproof systems and reinforcement works couldn’t, however, save the railways from avoiding any damage whatsoever.
"According to Higashi, only one train, running under test without passengers, derailed that day.".
"Tracks were displaced in 2,590 places, and 1,150 electrification masts were broken, leaning or cracked," said JR East’s Higashi in International Railway Magazine.
"Scheduled blackouts led to fewer train operations than in the normal situations in the Tokyo metropolitan area," says Fukayama.
Regular preparation has resulted in a mostly smooth evacuation this time but the quality has to be further improved. »