40% of tsunami survivors didn't evacuate quickly

The Yomiuri Shimbun

More than 40 percent of survivors of the tsunami caused by the March 11 earthquake did not evacuate immediately after the quake as they searched for family members or went home, a central governmental report on the disaster has revealed.

The survey was jointly conducted by the Cabinet Office, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's Fire and Disaster Management Agency and the Meteorological Agency last month at temporary housing facilities and evacuation facilities in coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which were severely hit in the disaster.

According to the survey, 361 of the 870 people interviewed said they did not evacuate immediately.

According to the report, 22 percent of the 361 people said they went home, 21 percent said they went to look for family members or pick them up, and 11 percent said they were not concerned about tsunami as they had not experienced them in past quakes.

The report also said 857 of the respondents ultimately evacuated and 485 of them fled by car.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency instructs people to evacuate on foot in cases of tsunami.

Of those who evacuated by car, 34 percent said they thought they had to do so to survive and 32 percent said they wanted to evacuate with family members. Thirty-four percent said they got caught in heavy traffic jams,

"Actions taken by individuals need to be analyzed," Kansai University Prof. Yoshiaki Kawata, head of the expert panel of the government's Central Disaster Management Council, said at a press conference.

He cited the traditional evacuation philosophy of "tsunami tendenko" in areas frequently hit by tsunami, which advises people to run to high places individually without thinking about family members, friends or neighbors.

"It's difficult for many old people to evacuate on foot and, in our graying society, evacuation rules have to be made by individual communities taking this into consideration," he added.

The results were handed out to participants on the expert panel and released Tuesday.

The Cabinet Office said it would thoroughly analyze the survey results.

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