117-5 Expanding the Scope of Natural Hazard Planning: Responding to Gojira

Sunday, 5 October 2008: 9:00 AM
George R. Brown Convention Center, 310BE
Charlie C. Kaufman, Geology and Environmental Geosciences, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
Large metropolitan areas such as Tokyo can suffer catastrophic damage from Kaiju (roughly translated "strange beast" or "monster") that can be compared to earthquakes or other disasters. The most famous Kaiju, Gojira (more commonly known as Godzilla in the U.S.), has come ashore in Japan approximately 28 times in the past 50+ years. Tokyo alone has had to undergo rebuilding efforts after 7+ attacks by Gojira.

Using hazards assessment and evaluation tools (and a little imagination) one can estimate the amount of damage caused by Gojira's landfall and the subsequent emergency management needs. Should Gojira attack Tokyo today, approximately 2,000 people would need emergency shelters; there would be approximately 1,500 casualties, costing 900 million yen (approximately $8 million US) in damage, and approximately 700 million yen (approximately $6 million US) in economic losses.

Unfortunately, Japan is not the only country that has a history of Kaiju damage. The United States has had its share of incidents. Gojira himself visited NYC within the past decade, causing a wave of destruction. Other Kaiju in the form of gorillas, reptiles, insects, fish, and other organisms have all been blamed for terrorizing cities and towns across the country. While these attacks are rare and seeming random, hazard assessment and evaluation tools can be used to model Kaiju attacks. While the damage that each attack can cause is as random as the Kaiju itself, the assessment tools can estimate [refugee, shelter, medical] needs for specific neighborhoods up to citywide evacuations.