Technology + Japan

The extent of the damage in Japan from the tsunami and earthquake in unknown, but deaths are already being reported and Japan is scrambling to cope and provide relief efforts for survivors.
Japan is arguably the most disaster-aware nation in the world, and have spent several years preparing for a different variety of hazards. Therefore, there were warnings immediately, telling people to stay away from coastlines and to seek higher ground. Japan created a system that 'outruns' the earthquake, sending information preparing people for the shock about what was about to happen, at best, this system provides 10 seconds of readying yourself.
Differentiating from other disasters of the same type, this time, we were able to watch the extent of the disaster live, on the web. Watching, from thousand's of miles away, and still being informed of the happenings going on. It's amazing to no the extent our technology has grown over the past years- to the point where we can see first hand the disasters going on in a whole other country, to being able to notify the public to prepare themselves before the hazard arrives.