We Are Tomodachi Disaster Prevention Edition 2015

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18Earthquake Countermeasures of the Shinkansen The year 2014 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Shinkansen, Japan’s high-speed rail. Its record of zero injuries and fatalities throughout numerous major earthquakes is due to the ceaseless efforts of everyone involved in its operation and development. Since it began service, the Shinkansen has been equipped with an early earthquake detection system. When the first slight tremors from seismic waves are detected, electrical power is shut down, and the emergency brakes are applied, thereby reducing the speed of the train to a considerable degree before the strong tremors hit. The system is constantly upgraded, and it currently takes only about two seconds for the system to activate the device after primary seismic waves are detected. Sophisticated earthquake countermeasures have been implemented in ground facilities as well. During the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in January 1995, elevated rails of the Shinkansen collapsed, causing massive damage. In light of this bitter experience, the railway companies retrofitted the elevated rail bridges against earthquakes, performing work such as reinforcing the bridge piers with steel plates. Since then, no bridge piers have been seriously damaged in major earthquakes. During the magnitude 6.8 Chuetsu Earthquake in October 2004, a train in service derailed. Fortunately, the cars did not come off the tracks completely and did not overturn because the rail became caught between the wheels and the equipment under the cars, causing the train to stop. Having learned from this incident, the railway companies equipped cars and tracks with derailment prevention devices.　　 These combined measures have proved successful, and during the Great East Japan Earthquake, all twenty-seven trains in service at the time stopped safely the moment the quake hit. Such accumulated countermeasures implemented in both ground facilities and trains, developed based on experience, ensure the safety of high-speed rail service.1. The Early Earthquake Detection System demonstrates its extraordinary effectiveness each time an earthquake hits, ensuring the safety of the high-speed rail service. Development is currently under way to improve the system’s accuracy and response speed. 2. The pillars of elevated tracks have been seismically reinforced with steel plates. The white areas are the parts that have been reinforced. 3. Several measures are in place to prevent derailment. One such measure is the Derailment Prevention Guards installed inside the rails. Another measure is the installation of protrusions to prevent derailment placed on either side of the cars.123-EpicenterSeismographSubstationSecondary wavePrimary wavePrimary wave detectionCutting power supplyEmergency braking

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