Statistics of Avalanche Accidents in Japan (19181974)
By the Use of Hand-Sorting Edge-Punched Cards
1974 Volume 36 Issue 3 Pages 96-103
Details
1974 Volume 36 Issue 3 Pages 96-103
Records of avlanche accidents in Japan that occurred during the period from 1918 to 1974 were collected from scientific reports, newspapers and other literature as many as possible, and a statistical analysis was made on them by the use of hand-sorting edge-punched cards as shown in Fig. 1.
The number of avalanche accidents with a loss of lives was 226 during this period, and 1, 555 persons were killed : of which 366 persons died in 126 avalanches when they were doing mountain-climbing or skiing. Recently, there is a general tendency that avalanche accidents are decreasing in industrial and residential areas, and increasing in mountains and skiing areas. The biggest accident by a single avalanche recorded during this period in Japan was the one that occurred in Mitsumata Village of Niigata Prefecture, Honshu, at 23 : 30 of January 9, 1918, when an avalanche of 300m long and 400m wide assaulted the village, destroying 34 houses, and killing 158 persons.
The earliest avalanche accident during the snowy season was recorded in October, and the latest in June. Statistically, 26% of the avalanche accidents with a loss of lives occurred in January, and 25%, 19% and 13% in February, March and December, respectively.
