Abstract
This research explored how we can improve tsunami evacuation behavior, which has been a major social issue since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. We introduce Nige-Tore, a smartphone app for supporting tsunami evacuation drills, which was developed within an interdisciplinary research framework. Nige-Tore serves as an effective interface tool that successfully visualizes the dynamic interactions between human actions (evacuation behavior) and natural phenomena (tsunami behavior). Drill participants can check, on their smartphone, the estimated inundation area of the approaching tsunami, along with their own current evacuation trajectory. The results of real-world trials using Nige-Tore show that the app is more powerful than conventional devices and methods that have been used in tsunami evacuation training, such as hazard maps and traditional drills that do not make use of any apps, because Nige-Tore provides an interface that enables commitment and contingency thinking—which at first glance appear to represent different orientations—to not only coexist but to synergize. “Commitment” (devotion or involvement) refers to the act of immersing oneself in and viewing as absolute one particular scenario or its potential to be actualized, given conditions in which infinite scenarios may be actualized, depending on the interactions between human systems and natural systems. “Contingency” thinking (an accidental or incidental state) refers to the act of relativizing and separating oneself from any particular scenario or its potential to be actualized, given the same conditions. The synergistic effect of “commitment” and “contingency” thinking also expands people’s capacity to cope with unexpected and unforeseen events.
Highlights
This research explored how we can improve tsunami evacuation behavior, which has been a major social issue since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
The second is a psychological or societal standard. This standard is expressed in phrases often repeated in relation to tsunami evacuation, such as ‘‘carelessness,’’ ‘‘giving up,’’ ‘‘waiting for information,’’ ‘‘everyone for themselves,’’ ‘‘going down together,’’ and ‘‘leaving others to die.’’ For example, people whose houses are shown on a hazard map as being outside the inundation zone may become ‘‘careless,’’ while those whose houses are shown as being at extreme risk may ‘‘give up.’’ When a tsunami approaches, people tend to wait for information and wonder if they really need to evacuate right away (Yamori 2014), based on recent studies, how quickly people respond to early warning of tsunami varies widely (Lindell et al 2015; Fraser et al 2016; Wei et al 2017)
This study focuses on evacuation behavior during tsunamis, which since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami have been viewed as the most important disaster prevention issue currently facing Japanese society (Committee for Technical Investigation on Countermeasures for Earthquakes and Tsunamis Based on the Lessons Learned from the ‘‘2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake’’ 2011), with a special attention to the betterment of evacuation drills
Summary
Tsunamis are among the most harmful types of natural hazards, as illustrated by the catastrophic 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, which killed around 2800 people, and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, which killed over 225,000 people. The second is a psychological or societal standard This standard is expressed in phrases often repeated in relation to tsunami evacuation, such as ‘‘carelessness,’’ ‘‘giving up,’’ ‘‘waiting for information,’’ ‘‘everyone for themselves,’’ ‘‘going down together,’’ and ‘‘leaving others to die.’’ For example, people whose houses are shown on a hazard map as being outside the inundation zone may become ‘‘careless,’’ while those whose houses are shown as being at extreme risk may ‘‘give up.’’ When a tsunami approaches, people tend to wait for information and wonder if they really need to evacuate right away (Yamori 2014), based on recent studies, how quickly people respond to early warning of tsunami varies widely (Lindell et al 2015; Fraser et al 2016; Wei et al 2017). We point out the importance of the synergistic effects that Nige-Tore creates between commitment and contingency in preparing for unforeseen events, and summarize the study (Sect. 4)
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