危機管理是指當發生突發緊急的重大災害或事故，危急大量民眾的生命及安全，社會的經濟秩序受到嚴重的打擊，中央政府或地方政府採取超越通常業務型態的緊急對策，期望將各種損害降到最低，社會的經濟運作迅速恢復秩序。都市型地震的「阪神‧淡路大地震」與複合型地震的「東日本大地震」，在性質上雖然無法相提並論，然而就危機管理的角度而言，日本政府的政策作為仍可做為研究分析的比較對象。本文首先探討危機管理在日本的興起，其次在說明兩次地震的情形後，緊接著從復興基本法的制定與專任賑災大臣的任命，來比較論述村山首相與菅首相的作為。

Crisis management refers to central and local governments' responses to emergencies and their dealing with major disasters or events that threaten to harm the general public and socio-economic operation to minimize all kinds of damages and restore the order rapidly. The two types of earthquakes are different, as Great Hanshin Earthquake is urban epicentral earthquake and Eastern Japan Great Earthquake is a complex one, and seem to be incomparable. However, instead of focusing on the qualities of earthquakes, the author confer this paper solely on the perspective of crisis management, by analyzing and comparing the Japanese governments' decision-making and actions in the two earthquakes. The author studies the rise of crisis management in Japan, introduces the situations of the two great earthquakes, and then brings forward the policy differences between Prime Minister Murayama and Kan by discussing the formulation of Rehabilitation Basic Act and the formal appointment of Reconstruction Minister.