It’s hard to tell from just TV reports. I don’t watch that much TV, but I’ve hardly seen scenes with people in them, mostly just miles of nothing but wreckage. With that said, here’s what I think:
1) They do a much better job of evacuation. I heard many areas ravaged by the tsunami had a little bit of time to get out before the devestation hit.
2) They were more prepared than average to deal with a mega disaster. This is where I think we seriously fall down here in the US. New Orleans during Katrina is a perfect example of government not being prepared and then trying to deal with it by passing the buck. I am not saying that government is everything in that sort of situation, but it helps when it is not also in freakout mode.
There is no Civil Defense in the US, that was killed off a long time ago, no system of fallout shelters and only a the Early Warning System in the media and even then, what then?
If CA had 1 hr to prepare for a Tsunami, it wouldn’t matter because the freeways would be packed there would be no place to go, and no plan for what to do if they stayed in place.