Tsunami awareness

a comparative assessment between Japan and the USA

Journal article (2018)

Authors

Miguel Esteban Waseda University
J.D. Bricker Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk - CEG
Hiroshi Takagi Tokyo Institute of Technology
Nam Yi Yun Institute for Research on Safety and Security of Greater Tokyo
Warathida Chaiyapa Chiang Mai University
Alexander Sjoegren University of Tokyo
Tomoya Shibayama Waseda University
Research Group
Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk (CEG) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2018 Miguel Esteban, J.D. Bricker, Ricardo San Carlos Arce, Hiroshi Takagi, Nam Yi Yun, Warathida Chaiyapa, Alexander Sjoegren, Tomoya Shibayama
DOI
help_outline
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3365-1
Awareness Natural hazards USA Japan Tsunami
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2018

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Department

Hydraulic Engineering

Research Group

Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk

Abstract

Awareness about the threats posed by different types of coastal disasters has increased throughout the world, as people are exposed to the nature of these hazards through media reports on events in distant countries. This has resulted in coastal residents being aware about the destructive power of tsunamis, despite no such events having taken place in their country in recent times. Regardless of this increased awareness, it has been hypothesized that there is still need for local governments to enact adequate policies to raise the awareness of local residents, for example, by holding regular evacuation drills. The present research presents a comparative assessment of tsunami awareness in two tourist destinations in Japan and the USA, which was derived through structured questionnaire surveys of beach users in the city of Kamakura and various coastal cities in Florida. The results show how despite relatively high level of awareness tsunamis still pose a considerable risk to each of the communities, for example, due to shortcoming in evacuation knowledge and infrastructure.