2023 Volume 79 Issue 18 Article ID: 23-18147
The tsunami waves caused by the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano on 15 January 2022 triggered a tsunami warning for coastal regions in Japan on 16 January. Questionnaire and interview surveys for fisheries in the Iwate coastal area and municipal department in charge of disaster prevention were conducted to search for responses to tsunami warnings and evacuation behavior. The number of fisheries evacuated offshore by fishing boats is fewer than those of evacuees offshore at the time of the tsunami generated by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The reasons for the difference are as follows. 1) The predicted height of the tsunami was smaller. 2) Because the tsunami warning was issued at midnight in winter, there was a high risk for evacuation to offshore by small fishing boats. The survey results revealed the problems of evacuation of fisheries and fishing boats against tsunamis, such as deciding if to escape to higher ground or evacuate offshore by fishing boats and information transmission in out-of-service areas for mobile phones and small fishing boats without fishing radio equipment. Preparing a hazard map for each coastal region showing tsunami risks at sea, installing high-performance speakers for disaster-prevention administration radios or revolving lights to indicate the danger of tsunamis, and evacuation planning of fishing boats against distinct tsunamis are required to solve the problems.
