A SIMULATION MODEL OF EVACUATION BEHAVIOR IN THE FIRE-SPREAD URBAN AREA FOLLOWING EARTHQUAKE : Effects of hearsay information process and geographical urban image

Abstract

In this paper we build a simulation model on evacuation behavior in a fire-spread city following the earthquake. For simulating the evacuation behavior with reality, we propose a model of evacuators who judge the circumstances and decide their evacuation routes based on the hearsay information and the geographical urban image. As the results of simulations on fire-spread and evacuation, it is confirmed that the hearsay information process is important for safety evacuation and the information service facilities should be located along the evacuation route. It is also shown that the transfigured geographical image leads to fatal evacuation.