Abstract
In the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11th March, 2011, the Tohoku region was faced with serious gasoline shortages for an extended period due to the severe damage on its only oil refinery and the major oil terminals on the Pacific coast by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Such gasoline shortages not only hampered relief and restoration efforts but also dampened socio-economic activities in the entire Tohoku region. In this study, using actual data, we first clarify that the fundamental reason for the gasoline shortages was a failure in adjusting the amount and shipping patterns of gasoline in response to the spatial changes in the production areas caused by the disaster. We then show that the gasoline shortages could have been reduced considerably by some post-disaster gasoline distribution strategies to redirect a certain amount of gasoline into the Tohoku region from other unaffected areas. It is also discussed that a traditional price adjustment policy is not suitable for mitigating socio-economic losses due to such large-scale disaster. Finally, we estimate the cost required to execute such a gasoline distribution strategy as well as its economic effect, demonstrating that although the cost is only 300 million yen, the benefit amounts to over 200 billion yen.
