Daniel P. Aldrich, ‘Black Wave: How Networks and Governance Shaped Japan’s 3/11 Disasters’

Despite the devastation caused by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and 60-foot tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, some 96% of those living and working in the most disaster-stricken region of Tōhoku made it through. Smaller earthquakes and tsunamis have killed far more people in nearby China and India. What accounts for the exceptionally high survival rate? And why is it that some towns and cities in the Tōhoku region have built back more quickly than others? Black Wave illuminates two critical factors that had a direct influence on why survival rates varied so much across the Tōhoku region following the 3/11 disasters and why the rebuilding process has also not moved in lockstep across the region.

Dr. Daniel P. Aldrich is director of the Security and Resilience Studies Program and professor in political science and public policy at Northeastern University in Boston. Aldrich has published five books, more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, and written op-eds for the New York Times, CNN, and many other media outlets. An alumnus of the Asian Studies program at UNC-Chapel Hill, he remains grateful for the tremendous education he received there.