Ideas @Davos: Dealing with disasters

Satoru Nishikawa

It’s human nature not to want to think about risk until the earthquake hits, warns Satoru Nishikawa.

Before you go to sleep at night, you should check that the wardrobe isn’t going to fall on top of you. If we’re better prepared for disasters, at least we will recover more quickly when they strike, says Satoru Nishikawa in the above video.

A series of simple yet often overlooked aspects can help us save lives in a disaster. For example, following the major earthquake in 2011, emergency brakes on Japan’s high-speed bullet trains prevented passenger fatalities.

Satoru Nishikawa is Director at the Japan Water Agency and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Catastrophic Risks.

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