Study on Awareness of Disaster Prevention and Evacuation Behavior for Visitors in a Tsunami Situation

- A Case Study of Wakayama City Beaches -

Abstract

This paper reports relationships among visitor characteristics, awareness of disaster prevention in normal times, and evacuation behavior in a tsunami situation on the beach. We conducted an interview survey on five beaches in Wakayama City. The contents of the survey included awareness of disaster prevention in normal times, knowledge of disaster prevention, and evacuation behavior in the event of a tsunami. We clarified the following points. Elderly visitors are very aware of disaster prevention and have considerably more knowledge of disaster prevention than young visitors. Visitors who had experienced evacuation drills evacuated more quickly than others. Visitors who saw an evacuation guidance signboard tended to evacuate on foot.