Peatland wildfires, especially in tropical ecosystems, are often caused by drought, and lead to smoke and other related problems in all aspects of community life in Indonesia, especially in Central Kalimantan. Drought is worsened by the number of dry days in the dry season, known as the El Niño phenomenon, and the drainage system in a peatland. Additionally, drought decreases the water table and increases the probability of occurrence of wildfires in peatland areas. This study aims to modify the numerical formula of the drought factor (DF_t) in the Keetch–Byram drought index (KBDI) based on tropical peatland wildfire conditions in Central Kalimantan during the El Niño phenomenon in 2015. Furthermore, it applies a revised peatland water table reference of 400 mm below the ground surface, based on previous research and the Government regulation on peatland ecosystem protection and management in Indonesia. These El Niño conditions caused a rain decline of approximately 35% in Block A, Ex-Mega Rice Project, Mantangai sub-District, Kapuas District, Central Kalimantan Province. The modified KBDI is compared with the Number of Fire Alerts (NFA) using NASA’s Active Fire Data in 2015. The analysis results demonstrate that the modified DF_t under tropical peatland conditions leads to an increase in the drought index value, beginning on the driest days between July and November 2015. The value of the KBDI drought index increases from the high to the extreme index from September to November 2015, when as many as 61 extreme drought indices became indicators for peatland wildfire risk assessment. The extreme KBDI is directly proportional to the NFA recorded during 2015, and the highest number of fire alerts is observed for October 2015, with 1746 fire alerts within 31 days and extreme drought indices from 27 days. Hence, this modified formula is suitable for wildfire conditions on this peatland in Central Kalimantan. Overall, the modified DF_t can be successfully applied to the El Niño phenomenon in 2015.

Public events, such as sports events, concerts, and firework shows, usually attract a large number of attendees; given this, evacuation during an emergency is more difficult than usual. Evacuation safety is an important part of fire protection engineering design. Stampedes usually occur at the entrances, exits, corners, and staircases in an evacuation route. This study examined incidents and related documents as references, and used Simulex software to set different parameters, such as the total number of people, density, and exit situation. The simulation conducted in the study is compared with data from literature review to address the factors of a stampede. On the basis of the findings, several suggestions are provided to improve strategies for management of the risks and increase the probability of survival.

Compared to other countries, Thailand has fewer seismic hazards. Hazardous experiences greatly influence the expertise and abilities of actors that implement and execute public disaster responses. In domestic disaster situations, there are protocols and resources that facilitate a national disaster response. However, in overseas responses, disaster response becomes more challenging as more responsibilities with limited authorities and resources are required. In this research, the public disaster response of the Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo was explored and evaluated on the basis of several disaster scenarios. This research was developed to understand the state of disaster response, enhance the effectiveness of disaster response protocols, and reduce unnecessary resource consumption. This study intended to fulfill organizational needs and responsibilities. The study converts existing protocol that is written in document form into a time series disaster response plan for disaster drills based on a possible worst-case scenario, i.e., the Kumamoto Earthquake scenario in 2016 and the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011. The plan was used in a disaster drill to evaluate organizational responses. The results from drills and discussions and comments from participant information flow primarily manage communications, cooperation, and connections, which are dependent on experiences and expertise in disaster management. This further affects information flow management and assistance capabilities. The outputs and outcomes from this research can be used as a guideline for application to other embassies in Japan, the Royal Thai Embassy in other countries, and general overseas organizations. This work may apply to other public disaster responses aside from natural disasters.

Volcanic gas was sampled at three fumaroles and one borehole on Mt. Mihara, Izu-Oshima volcano. The fumarolic gas and the borehole steam possessed an excess enthalpy relative to the air saturated with water vapor. The fumarolic gas located west of the pit crater on Mt. Mihara showed a time variation in chemical and isotopic composition. The cause of the variation seems to be an enhancement of water vapor condensation. No similar variation was observed in the fumarolic gas located east of the pit crater, suggesting the above variation is a phenomena localized around the western fumarole. Hydrogen gas was detected in the sampled gases with low concentration. The change in the H₂ concentration synchronized among the three fumaroles, suggesting the H₂ gas originated in the hydrothermal system developed beneath Mt. Mihara.

Emergency Fire Response Teams (EFRTs) are units dispatched from all over Japan on the request or instruction of the Commissioner of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. These are used as fire service support for large-scale disasters that cannot be handled solely by the firefighting capacity of the disaster-stricken area. For the EFRTs to respond rapidly and accurately to changing situations in the event of national emergencies, such as massive or extremely special types of disasters, it is important to logistically coordinate their dispatch, advancement/transfer, onsite activities, and logistic support from a nationwide perspective, which in turn requires that the national government’s command and coordination functions be strengthened. In this paper, we first review the issues of the EFRTs that became apparent through the Great East Japan Earthquake, the undertakings that followed, and the discussion conducted at the Fire and Disaster Management Council surrounding the direction to be taken with regard to wide-area command and coordination. We then review the government plans related to fire service support activities, including EFRT dispatch, premised on the Nankai Trough Earthquake and nuclear emergencies as examples of national emergency disasters. Finally, we point out the need to strengthen the national government’s command and coordination functions over the EFRTs, to allow them to respond rapidly and accurately according to government plans in the event of a national emergency disaster. We likewise discuss the institutional measures necessary to achieve this end.

Constituent minerals and water-soluble components of the volcanic ash discharged from the eruption of Mt. Motoshirane on January 23, 2018, were analyzed to investigate the source environment of this eruption. The ash sample included quartz, plagioclase, cristobalite, pyrite, alunite, kaolinite, and pyrophyllite; its mineral assemblage suggests that a high-temperature acid alteration zone had been formed in the volcanic edifice of Mt. Motoshirane. The presence of pyrophyllite in the ash sample indicates that the explosion of this eruption took place at a depth reaching the basement rocks of Mt. Motoshirane. Further, the adhesion amount of water-soluble components detected from the ash sample is smaller than that in the ashes from the 1982 eruption of Mt. Shirane, indicating that the ash discharge of the 2018 eruption of Mt. Motoshirane took place in a condition in which the degree of involvement of the liquid phase was relatively small.