Tsunami evacuation: Lessons from the Great East Japan earthquake ...

2012
3.5 Movements during and after evacuation ......................................................... 57
3.5.1 Delayed evacuation or non-evacuation ............................................... 57
3.5.2 Use of motor vehicles during evacuation ............................................ 57
3.5.3 Use of boats during evacuation .......................................................... 58
3.5.4 Schools evacuation ............................................................................. 58
3.5.5 Necessary relocation from evacuation refuges ................................... 59
3.5.6 Leaving evacuation refuges too early ................................................. 59
3.6 Impacts of coastal defence on warning response and evacuation ................. 59
3.7 Vertical evacuation buildings .......................................................................... 60
3.7.1 Building specification and levels of damage ....................................... 60
3.7.2 Community engagement ..................................................................... 60
3.7.3 Evacuation building signage ............................................................... 61
3.7.4 Owner agreement ............................................................................... 61
3.7.5 24-hour access ................................................................................... 61
3.7.6 Evacuee welfare ................................................................................. 61
3.8 Additional recommendations from observations and interviews ..................... 62
4.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... 62
5.0 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 62
FIGURES
Figure 1 Map of locations investigated in this report, with coastal topography and epicentre of March
11 th main shock indicated. Note the grey lines delineate prefectures. All of the locations
investigated lie within Iwate and Miyagi prefectures (labelled), which received the largest
tsunami wave heights and most of the casualties. Base map credits: GEBCO, NOAA,
National Geographic, DeLorme, Esri.................................................................................................. 5
Figure 2 Excerpt from the tsunami evacuation map Clallam Bay, Clallam County, Washington. This
map uses 2 zones, local sites of importance (fire department, etc.), evacuation routes and
assembly areas (Clallam County Emergency Management, n d). ................................................... 10
Figure 3 An example evacuation map in Washington. This map is for Long Beach and Ilwaco, Pacific
County, and illustrates the use of 3 zones, evacuation routes and assembly areas (Pacific
County Emergency Management, 2007). ......................................................................................... 10
Figure 4 ‘Tsunami Hazard Zone’ sign with instructions to evacuate to high ground or inland in
response to an earthquake. ............................................................................................................. 11
Figure 5 ‘Tsunami Evacuation Route’ sign with arrow depicting the direction of evacuation. These
signs are placed regularly along roads in tsunami hazard zones. .................................................... 11
Figure 6 An example tsunami hazard map from Whananaki, New Zealand. .................................................. 12
Figure 7
An example tsunami evacuation map and information board as displayed outdoors (1.2 m
wide) in the Island Bay community, Wellington, New Zealand. ........................................................ 12
Figure 8 Extract from Tarō tsunami hazard map, indicating three sections of tsunami wall (red (1958
section), black and yellow thick lines), tsunami gates (blue triangles and circles). The
inundation extent of the 1986 Meiji (thin red line) and 1933 Shōwa tsunami (thin blue line).
Evacuation refuges are marked as red triangles and welfare centres as red circles. Source:
Tarō Town Disaster Prevention Office. ............................................................................................ 16
Figure 9 Kamaishi City evacuation map (Source: Kamaishi City Disaster Prevention Office). ....................... 16
Figure 10 Ōfunato City evacuation map (Source: Ōfunato City Disaster Management). ................................. 17
Figure 11 Excerpt from Kesennuma City evacuation map (Source: Kesennuma General Affairs
Department). .................................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 12 Minami-Sanriku hazard map with evacuation refuge locations indicated by numbered red
circles (Miyagi Prefectural Government, 2004). ............................................................................... 19
Figure 13 Excerpt from the Ishinomaki tsunami hazard map with evacuation refuges (Ishinomaki City,
n d). .................................................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 14 Natori City hazard map (Source: Natori City Disaster Prevention Office)......................................... 20
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17
A sign displayed above the road indicating to drivers that they are entering an estimated
tsunami inundation area. These signs were seen on roads within Kamaishi district. ....................... 20
A sign displayed above the road indicating to drivers that they are exiting an estimated
tsunami inundation area. These signs were seen on roads within Kamaishi district. ....................... 20
Tsunami evacuation route direction and distance sign displayed on a sign in
Hitachihamacho, Miyako City. .......................................................................................................... 21
GNS Science Report 2012/17
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