Crustal movement, ground subsidence, flooding, and forest fires are some of the innumerable natural disasters. The behavior of nature is closely intertwined with our lives.
Satellite data is essential for keeping abreast of the situation and preparing to reduce disaster risks.

Flooding

Typhoon Hagibis in 2019
Kawajima Town, Saitama Prefecture, etc.

  • Typhoon Hagibis, which formed on October 6, 2019, made landfall on the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture at around 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 12.
    It was a large and powerful typhoon with a central pressure of 955 hPA and maximum wind speed of 40 m/s just before landfall. It caused record rainfall in the Kanto-koshin and Tohoku areas that wrought catastrophic damage.
    In Saitama Prefecture, disasters (dam/embankment collapse, overflow) occurred along the river, etc. of the Arakawa River system, destroying more than 7,000 homes, including total destruction of over 100 homes.
  • 2019年台風19号埼玉県川島町ほか

Slope failure

2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake Atsuma Town, Hokkaido Prefecture, etc.

At 3:07 a.m. on Thursday, September 6, 2018, there was an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) seismic intensity scale with the epicenter located in central eastern Iburi. The earthquake registered a JMA magnitude of 7 in Atsuma Town and a JMA magnitude of 6 Upper in Abira Town and Mukawa Town.
The earthquake damaged social infrastructure such as roads and river embankments. In Kiyota Ward in Sapporo City, homes were destroyed by liquefaction of residential land.
The Atsuma Town area in particular was hit by many sediment disasters, including slope failures, landslides, and debris flow. Of the 42 fatalities from this earthquake, 36 were due to sediment disasters.
In Atsuma, Abira, and Mukawa Towns that registered a JMA magnitude of 6 Upper, 94 incidents of debris flow and 116 incidents of rockslide were reported. Hidaka-horonai River was blocked by sediment from slope failure (natural dam), spreading fears over secondary disasters from river overflow.

Mountain fire

Fire in April 2002
Eastern Gifu City and Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture

On Friday, April 5, 2002, there was a large forest fire in the Mt. Gongen area in eastern Gifu City. It was the largest forest fire to occur in Gifu Prefecture, burning approx. 410 hectares of land area, which is equivalent to approx. 87 Tokyo Domes (approx. 4.7 hectares).