Kobe City: Drill to Prepare for Tsunami Outbreaks on Holidays, at Night, etc.

Press Release (August 18, 2023)
Coastal Disaster Prevention Division, Port and Harbor Department
In order to ensure the safety and security of its citizens, Kobe City has been implementing hardware measures against storm surges and tsunamis, such as remote operation of tide gates and reinforcement of seawalls to make them more tenacious.
In the event of a tsunami that occurs outside of working hours, such as on holidays and at night, we have established a system whereby doors can be closed remotely using tablets, some of which are now in operation, and employees who live in the neighborhood of doors that have not yet been remotely operated can rush to the site to close the doors.
In order to ensure the safe, reliable, and prompt closure of tide gates, we will conduct the following closure drill of tide gates this year as well.

Time

August 21 (Monday) to September 1 (Friday), 2023 [tentative]
*Remotely operated closure drills will be conducted during the night on September 1 (Friday). The

staff

members who live near the tide gate will reconfirm the location and operation method, and perform the closure work. In the event of a tsunami at night, the office of the Port Authority will be assumed to be the home, and the tide barriers in Meriken Park will be closed

from

there with a tablet, so that the doors can be closed securely and safely at night.

Other

Although the

probability of an earthquake occurring once in 1,000 years is low, if a huge Nankai Trough earthquake were to occur, it would cause enormous damage. As a further effort, the remote operation of tide gates is underway for completion in FY2024.