VIDEO: Earthquake and Tsunami Aftermaths

One year. Eight years. Fifteen years. After disaster, life goes on. Individuals, communities and countries rebuild and restructure, leaving the time of disaster behind while they incorporate its realities into their everyday lives. What is the relationship between time and transformation in the wake of major natural disasters? How do specific social, political, and economic contexts influence reconstruction?

Earthquake and Tsunami Aftermaths, a roundtable event co-sponsored by the Peter Wall Institute and organized by 2017 Wall Scholar Sara Shneiderman, was held on November 21. It brought together diverse approaches to understanding the social elements of disaster aftermaths – with the hope of producing useable knowledge to prepare for future disasters. Speakers shared their anthropological research in India, Sri Lanka, and Japan, followed by a response focused on Vancouver from the city’s lead seismic policy planner.