A Study on the Handling of Liquefaction in School Education

Abstract

Injuries and deaths caused by liquefaction, as well as delays in escaping from tsunamis, have actually occurred in past earthquakes. After the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake, tsunami-related measures have been greatly improved in school disaster prevention. However, it is not clear to what extent the measures related to liquefaction have been taken and how many descriptions are available for liquefaction. The purpose of this study is to investigate disaster prevention manuals and pamphlets produced by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and prefectural boards of education, and to clarify the extent to which manuals and pamphlets are prepared to deal with liquefaction in school education.The results of the survey revealed the following three points. (1) Disaster prevention manuals are greatly influenced by recent disasters, and they are full of information about the most recent disaster that caused serious damage. Therefore, even in areas where disaster prevention education materials are abundant, liquefaction is not emphasized. (2) The data prepared by Chiba Prefecture, which suffered severe damage due to liquefaction caused by the Tohoku Earthquake, had the most extensive description of liquefaction among the 47 prefectures. (3) Only three prefectures (Chiba, Tokyo, and Aichi) have specific information on liquefaction, and there are few regions in Japan that have specific information on liquefaction.