After a quake hits, children are required to stay in school until an adult comes to collect them, in case their homes are damaged or their family members aren’t available to look after them.
As a result television footage from school and offices in Tokyo during Friday’s quake showed workers and students behaving with extraordinary calm and composure as buildings shook violently, sending files tumbling from desks and books from shelves.
After the quake crocodiles of children could be seen in Tokyo walking calmly to muster points wearing their protective helmets.
Many lessons were learned from the Kobe earthquake of 1995 that killed 6,400 people and forced a reassessment of the building regulations for both residential offices and transport infrastructure.
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