A study on the quantitative method for determining the extent of influence of earthquake ground motions during the Noto Peninsula Earthquake of 2024

Abstract

In general, the scale of an earthquake disaster is often expressed in terms of the maximum seismic intensity. However, in considering the impact on the lives of disaster victims, it is necessary to take into account the distribution and composition of the population. To address this issue, we developed a series of methods to calculate the population by seismic intensity by combining the estimated seismic intensity distribution published by the Japan Meteorological Agency and census mesh statistics, and actually applied them to the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. As a result, we were able to quantitatively analyze the effects of a large-scale earthquake that occurred over a wide area, and to obtain a quantitative and comprehensive understanding of the extent of the earthquake’s impact and its bias. The use of mesh statistics made it possible to easily analyze various types of data (e.g., by attribute) with a small amount of computation, making it a method that can be used quickly immediately after a disaster.