Examining the Relationship Between Disaster Scenarios and Disaster Management Behavior During Earthquakes

This study examines the effect of the recognition of various disaster scenarios on the disaster management behavior of people. It analyzes the data (n = 1,900) of the social surveys, conducted by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) in seven districts of Japan (Hokkaido/Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu). The study indicates that the experience of victims, recognition of earthquake occurrence in the region and of earthquake hazard maps, as well as the factors, "life threatening," "difficulties in daily life," and "induced disasters," in the disaster scenarios are related to their disaster management behavior. The greater their recognition of "life threatening" and "difficulties in daily life," the more people will adopt disaster management behaviors. This study suggests that, added to the experience of victims and the recognition of the occurrence of earthquakes and of hazard maps, the image of the damage through specific disaster scenarios affects people's disaster management behavior. On the other hand, it has become apparent that creating images of "induced disasters" that are caused by earthquakes, with their unclear association, may lead to psychological confusion.