Effectiveness of Announcements About Evacuation Areas on Evacuation Behavior

Peripheral Area of JR Osaka Station

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the evacuation behavior and to identify the effectiveness of evacuation announcements based on the on-site evacuation drill of the shopping area on the basement floor of JR Osaka station. The study found that 1) 80 percent of the participants of the drill escape to the ground level; they do not choose the evacuation routes on the basement floor. 2) They tend to choose the nearest evacuation sites, or evacuation sites which they know well. 3) the announcements of possible evacuation areas encourage people to choose their evacuation site based on the announcement.