This special issue includes works related to the ongoing project “Regional Resilience Enhancement through Establishment of Area-BCM at Industry Complexes in Thailand.” This special issue can be considered evidence that the research and development of this project follows and supports the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Let’s imagine we are taking a tour of Area-Business Continuity Management (Area-BCM) and SDGs together.

As a starter, the baseline concept of our Area-BCM is discussed (Kodaka et al.) followed by the papers focusing on the specific SDGs.

Toward SDG Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

We can start the tour with this goal, as it is the project’s primary focus. In order to have sustainable cities and communities, the concept of Area-BCM can be considered. Related to it, there is a study that reviews and suggests the critical success factors (Meechang and Watanabe). Moreover, we can see the possibility of extending the concept of business continuity to other service sectors, such as tourism during COVID-19 (Yudha et al.).

Toward SDG Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Let’s move to the next goal. There is a study exploring the well-being of working people and its likelihood among the local people in the community (Duangkaew et al.). People can be considered human resources in the Area-BCM. Accordingly, learning how people fared during a disaster allows us to design the suitable Area-BCM strategies for organizations. With sustainable employment aspects, inundation model for industrial park-scale is proposed for decision making regarding business continuity (Kakinuma et al.). And a practical model for shared risk assessment within multi-stakeholder is discussed for decision as a community (Ono).

Toward SDG Goal 13 Climate Action

Regarding the third goal, it is necessary to know the outcome of hazard analysis for us to understand the risks. Thus, an approach to flood hazard mapping using the Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation model is presented (Sriariyawat et al.). Through various techniques, flood inundation models are developed. Furthermore, detailed flood inundation model with different return period is proposed for more flexible and feasible decision making (P. C. et al.).

There is still on a way to go. Nevertheless, we hope that these current findings will guide the future research and development of Area-BCM.

In the event of a crisis, companies in industrial complexes and surrounding regional organizations that share production bases and operating resources need to manage business continuity through coordinated mutual cooperation in public and private sectors, in addition to their individual business continuity plans (BCPs). This framework of collaboration is called area business continuity management (Area BCM). This note proposes and validates a participatory exercise which contributes to formulate Industrial Area BCM based on a series of studies conducted in the project called Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) targeting industrial complexes in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Thailand. The proposed exercise for enhancing the effectiveness of individual company BCPs through Industrial Area BCM has the following three functions: 1) provision of reliable and objective information to support rational decision-making by individual companies, 2) identification of factors affecting the decision-making and response of stakeholders that prevent the BCPs of individual companies from planned operations, and 3) development of complementary indicators consists of coordination and collaboration with regional stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of individual BCP.

The explosion of COVID-19 infection hit the world in 2020, which prompted the Japanese government to declare a state of emergency and require society to refrain from going outdoors and promote working from home. Although there was a lot of confusion on the side of employees and businesses at the beginning of the introduction of remote work, it gradually took root, there were differences depending on the industry. The introduction of remote work has overturned the common sense of Japanese companies that used to require employees to come to the office to work, and has improved the level of business continuity planning (BCP) measures. This can be said to be the result of changing the BCP measures and strategies, which immediately eliminated the bottlenecks in the priority operations group. It is interesting to note that the external pressure has led to a reconsideration of measures and strategies that had been assumed to be sufficient. This note focuses on cases where measures and strategies that were not selected as earthquake countermeasures were selected as countermeasures to COVID-19 and consequently led to the strengthening of earthquake countermeasures. This fact could be applied to further discuss the relationship between countermeasures and unavailable resources and discuss the need for a shared risk assessment model for multi-stakeholder BCP development such as Area Business Continuity Management (BCM) [1].

Flooding is a major natural hazard that can cause significant damage to socioeconomic and ecological systems. This study presents an approach to producing the maximum flood inundation and flood duration maps over the Chao Phraya River Basin (CPRB), Thailand. An integrated numerical model and spatial analysis tool were utilized in this study. The Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) model was first used to simulate both river discharge and inundation depth. Then, the maximum flood inundation and flood duration maps with different return periods were estimated using a Geographical Information System (GIS) tool. The results illustrate that the flood inundation areas were spread out, starting from Nakhon Sawan Province, which is located in the central part of the basin. The maximum flood inundation depth could reach up to approximately 7.71, 8.28, and 8.78 m for the flood return periods of 50, 100, and 200 years, respectively. The results also indicate that the inundation areas over the CPRB could cover approximately 21,837, 23,392, and 24,533 km² for flood return periods of 50, 100, and 200 years, respectively. The longest flood durations for return periods of 50, 100, and 200 years were approximately 159, 177, and 198 days, respectively. The longest flood duration occurred in the vicinity of the Nakhon Sawan. This study suggests that flood inundation areas and duration mapping could provide supporting information regarding the impacts caused by varying degrees of flood hazards and can be used to enhance comprehensive disaster risk management planning.

The 2011 flood on the Chao Phraya River in Thailand caused enormous damage. The damage was greatest to the industrial sector, accounting for more than 70% of the estimated economic damage, and the resulting disruption of the supply chains of global companies has spread not only throughout Thailand but to other countries around the world. In order to reduce such damage, it is necessary to prepare a flood manual that makes use of past flood experiences or a business continuity planning (BCP) that assumes floods. In addition, business continuity management (BCM) is needed to establish and enhance BCP. Thus, it is essential to obtain flood information on the scale of an industrial park. Therefore, in this study, to provide detailed flood information as above, in addition to a flood inundation analysis model for the Chao Phraya River Basin, a detailed model on the scale of an industrial park was developed. Specifically, we developed a 40 m mesh industrial park-scale model based on survey data using a local aerial laser and the local river channel shape. Furthermore, using the flood discharge and river discharge output obtained from a 1 km mesh model of the Chao Phraya River Basin as inputs for the industrial park scale model for the surrounding boundary conditions, we obtained a more precise inundation analysis. As a result, the flood risk information obtained from the above analysis model can be useful for BCP/BCM. In addition, detailed flood risk information such as road inundation conditions can be obtained at any location, which could be useful in creating evacuation plans for employees.

Thailand has faced many flooding crises, especially in 2011, which caused widespread damage to industrial parks and community zones. However, the negative consequences of flooding on the local people and workers in industrial zones have been little studied. This study focuses on the impacts of flooding after 2011 on the well-being of residents in industrial zones in terms of their work and livelihoods. Community-based research was used to explore the effects of floods on 647 respondents who worked in Rojana Industrial Park (N = 247) and those who lived around the park (N = 400). A questionnaire survey was conducted in February 2020. The results showed adverse impacts on the economy, accommodation, and well-being of both the local inhabitants and workers, whose monthly incomes and overtime jobs decreased significantly compared to before the disaster. However, local people suffered more from low incomes than workers of the company, as the employees’ work status was maintained during the crisis. Japanese company culture is investigated as a factor in the higher resilience and recovery levels of company employees than the Rojana community. In addition, the workers were evacuated to other accommodations until the company recovered, while locals remained in their flooded homes. In addition, most respondents reported that mental health impacts were more likely to affect their mental health. For effective recovery and flood risk management, the government should follow up on employment, accommodation, and livelihood after a sudden flood, especially for the local people. A greater understanding of community risk, community engagement, and awareness-raising activities can enhance readiness, response, recovery, and resilience in disaster management by government, businesses, and local communities.

Understanding the potential flood inundation depth and extent over river basins can provide a reference for understanding and mitigating the flood risk. However, the development of design hyetographs for the evaluation of flood inundation under extreme rainfall is challenging. We evaluated the flood inundation depth and extent in the Chao Phraya River Basin, one of the largest river basins in Asia, which is often vulnerable to water-related disasters. Rainfall data from 119 stations within the basin were collected for a frequency analysis. After processing the 36-year daily rainfall data, a frequency analysis of the maximum monthly rainfall was performed at each station using the Gumbel distribution. The maximum monthly rainfall for various return periods varied substantially among stations. For an inundation analysis over the entire river basin, we produced design hyetographs by integrating extreme rainfall values for each month according to the return period. These design hyetographs were included in a rainfall-runoff-inundation model to simulate the maximum inundation depth profile over the basin for different return periods. The Maximum inundation depths were 8.3, 9.0, 9.7, and 10.5 m for return periods of 50, 100, 200, and 500 years, respectively, over the Chao Phraya River Basin. Similarly, approximately 16.3%, 17.1%, 17.8%, and 18.6% of the basin area was inundated (depth > 0.5 m) over the return periods, respectively. The results of this study provide a good reference for risk analyses and evaluations of the Chao Phraya River Basin.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a major shake-up in the global tourism industry, causing people from all over the world to self-isolate and avoid travel. Indonesia is one of the largest archipelago countries in the world, consisting of five major islands and thousands of small islands, making it a prime global tourism destination. However, due to the pandemic, the tourism industry in the country has been deeply affected, and many of the tourism businesses in Indonesia have had to shut down. This article discusses the COVID-19 impact on tourism in Indonesia through a systematic review of research articles from the ScienceDirect database for 2019–2022. This study aims to explore the pandemic’s impact on various tourism industries throughout Indonesia and the recovery strategy of the affected areas. Accordingly, this study reviewed the literature on this issue, focusing on the post-recovery strategy for the tourism industry and the impact of COVID-19 on various branches of the tourism industry, such as the hotel, geoparks, and halal industries. Connecting the gap between policies and demographic characteristics is a crucial strategy for tourism recovery that can lay a foundation for future studies in similar fields.

Area-business continuity management (Area-BCM) is a concept that upgrades an individual business continuity management (BCM) to regional management to ensure the resilience of local economics and communities. In order to implement Area-BCM in an industrial park, various stakeholders, such as private companies, infrastructure providers, industrial park operators, disaster management authorities, and local governments, present several challenges. Therefore, this study aims to present the ways to achieve Area-BCM implementation with many stakeholders. The systematic review is conducted to find the critical success factors (CSFs) of Area-BCM. The concept of BCM and supply chain management are applied to search for related articles. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses approach is used as a guideline for the quality review. As a result, 14 CSFs are listed and categorized in four groups following the main dimensions of Area-BCM. In addition, we conduct a focus group study and interview experts from the public and private sectors. Their outlook enlightens the importance of collecting factors. Commitment and support from the top management are mentioned as the initial point of implementation. Equally, information and knowledge sharing is key to conveying the Area-BCM framework and related information to stakeholders. Government support is necessary to connect stakeholders through a regional network for disaster management. Lastly, the interrelationship of CSFs is drawn based on experts’ opinions.

We are very pleased to publish this special issue, dedicated to NIED Frontier Research on Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience 2022. There are four papers, two reviews, and one note in this issue.

In the last year of the NIED’s fourth mid/long term plan period, which began in 2016, natural disasters have occurred every year, including earthquake disasters such as the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake (M7.3) and the 2018 Iburi, Hokkaido earthquake (M7.1). Rainfall disasters include the heavy rainfall in northern Kyushu in July 2017, southwestern Japan in July 2018, northern Kyushu in August 2019, Kanto and Tohoku in October 2019, and Kyushu in July 2020. In the summer of 2022, the heavy rainfall and extreme weather continued over Japan.

The first three papers and one note contain hazard and risk information. Dohi et al. present the development of Japan Tsunami Hazard Information Station (J-THIS), Cui et al. present a study of the estimation of damage based on analysis of SNS Information, Nakamura provides avalanche risk information, and Ise et al. note information linkage by the Shared Information Platform for Disaster Management (SIP4D). Horiuchi et al. review the contribution of the E-Defence shaking table. This special issue also includes two social science works. Nagata et al. present tsunami disaster risk reduction education programs, and Yamazaki-Honda reviews promoting coherence among disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development for disaster resilience.

In the first half of the 21st century, a mega disaster such as the Nankai Trough earthquake is expected to occur. Extreme climatic events are also becoming more frequent: typhoons, floods, heavy rains and snows, landslides, and heat waves. We hope this issue provides information useful to all readers who study natural disasters.

To promote effective disaster countermeasures against possible tsunamis in the future, an effective application of tsunami hazard information is important. However, there were insufficient systems available for utilizing and applying various tsunami hazard information. Based on this situation, we developed and have been improving the Japan Tsunami Hazard Information Station (J-THIS), an open Web system available as a public portal for providing tsunami hazard information based on the probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA). It provides tsunami hazard information through the following services: map services, data download services, and Web application programming interface (API) services. Based on the PTHA along the Nankai Trough, the J-THIS provides distributions of exceedance probability of tsunami heights for 30 years, tsunami hazard curves, earthquake fault models, tsunami heights for each earthquake fault model, and bathymetric charts. To illustrate the use of the J-THIS, understanding how existing coastal structures will protect us against tsunamis while enabling the local governments to set investment priorities in disaster risk reduction and resilience is key.

To carry out natural disaster response, restoration, and reconstruction, it is important to efficiently and quickly assess the damage caused by the natural disaster. The existing evidence demonstrates that when a natural disaster occurs, social networking services (SNS) information is amplified significantly, compared to normal times. Specifically, the damage caused by a natural disaster tends to cover a wide area and have a large scale. Additionally, it may vary considerably depending on the municipality. Thus, this study investigates whether the utilization of this amplified SNS information can offer an effective approach for real-time evaluation and monitoring of the damage caused by a natural disaster in municipal units. To this end, focusing on time-series changes in SNS information, we propose a general-purpose analysis method of SNS information for evaluating the damage caused by a natural disaster in real time in municipal units. Using real-world data twitter data, we investigate the case of Kumamoto Prefecture, which experienced heavy rain in July 2020 and July 2021, to verify the proposed analysis method.

The weak layer of snow formed by snowfall during cyclone passage generates surface avalanches. This type of avalanche can cause significant problems for humans, traffic, and logistics. Visualizing the level of hazard of these surface avalanches can help minimize the damage they cause. The topographic, snow pit, and meteorological characteristics of two surface avalanches caused by snowfall from a cyclone were analyzed. An algorithm for estimating the risk of surface avalanches caused by snowfall in a typical winter monsoon and during a cyclone was developed based on the analysis results. By incorporating the results of our previous study into the algorithm for estimating the risk of surface avalanches due to snowfall from a cyclone, we were able to improve the avalanche potential estimation algorithm such that it can cover surface avalanches generated by snowfall following the typical winter monsoon pattern after a cyclone has passed. In the three cases we verified, a warning was issued because the threshold of danger was exceeded before the surface avalanche occurred.

Information sharing by related organizations is crucial in disaster response. In the event of a large-scale disaster that makes it difficult for the affected local government to respond independently, support from the central government and non-affected local governments is required. In such cases, effective activities by support organizations cannot be expected unless sufficient information is shared. The authors are currently working on the research and development of a platform for sharing information held by related organizations in a Japanese government project. In particular, they focus on the common operational picture (COP) necessary for effective activities by unifying the situational awareness of related organizations. This paper reports on the progress of the project, which commenced in 2014, and introduces current issues, directions for solving them, and efforts toward the advanced use of disaster information. Based on the results of a questionnaire distributed among local governments nationwide at the beginning of the project, the authors provide an overview of the state of disaster information system development in 2014. Based on the experience of actual disaster response, the authors will discuss the activity status of the Information Support Team (ISUT), the current status and issues of Shared Information Platform for Disaster Management (SIP4D), and NIED-Disaster Information-Sharing System (NIED-DISS).

A shaking table is an experimental facility consisting of a table that loads a structural specimen and actuators that produce acceleration of the table to simulate seismic motions. This is a powerful tool in earthquake engineering because it permits direct observation of the seismic responses of structures under controlled conditions. The 3-D Full-Scale Earthquake Testing Facility, known by its nickname as “E-Defense,” is the largest facility of its kind in terms of table size and operated by National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED). Since its start of operations in 2005, E-Defense has been contributing to earthquake engineering through as many as 113 experimental projects successfully completed as of fiscal year 2020. To elucidate its future operations as well as to provide other similar facilities with useful knowledge, this paper reviews the E-Defense experiences of operations and research conducted, shares the lessons learned from the experiences, and proposes the future challenges for continued contributions to earthquake engineering, by covering: the history of E-Defense facility operations and its challenges; the contributions of E-Defense to numerical simulation, another important area in earthquake engineering complementing experiment; publications of experimental data and metadata from E-Defense experiments; and international collaborations in experimental research projects.

In this study, we developed a tsunami disaster risk reduction (DRR) education program for children with little or no memory/experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The objective was to strengthen their disaster response capacity and enable them to think and act to protect their lives from tsunami disasters. The development of this program employed the ADDIE model of Instructional Design in learning theory. Based on the GIGA school concept promoted by Japan, information and communications technology (ICT)-based education and DRR education were integrated into the program from a geographical perspective. Using the ICT-based teaching materials, YOU@RISK Tsunami Disaster Edition, empirical learning was introduced. The town of Shichigahama in Miyagi Prefecture, which was devastated by the tsunami during the Great East Japan Earthquake, was selected as the study target. The study implemented and verified the program with local elementary school students to assess its effectiveness.

Post-2015 global agendas; namely the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)), pose a challenge to the coherence among Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Climate Change Adaptation, and Sustainable Development to achieve the common goal; disaster resilience. These agendas are more outcome-oriented with monitoring mechanisms than previous ones and require a coherent multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral approach across government levels. Above all, the global indicators for monitoring the Sendai Framework have been adopted as SDG indicators in Goals 1, 11, and 13. Interlinkages between DRR, climate change, and sustainable development are observed from the integrated monitoring of agendas, which enhances coordination and coherence. Disaggregated data have revealed that major disaster mortality and economic losses in recent years have been triggered by weather-, climate-, and water-related disasters. More detailed data support evidence-based policymaking and promote coherence. To achieve Target E of the Sendai Framework, countries are developing DRR strategies to promote policy coherence with sustainable development and climate change. Both the number of national DRR strategies and alignment scores have increased over the years. DRR strategies and national adaptation plans (NAPs) should adopt a risk-informed, integrated approach to sustainable development through comprehensive planning and implementation. To achieve disaster resilience, national plans in these domains should be better integrated to maximize the effectiveness of actions toward disaster resilience and passed on to the sub-national level for implementation as place-based policies. Japanese experiences toward disaster resilience highlight interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approaches by various stakeholders with technological innovation, which presents promising progress.

Despite the necessity of improving disaster-prevention consciousness, there are no studies on the definition of disaster-prevention consciousness. Several scales have been developed for the measurement of disaster-prevention consciousness, but some problems are recognized. For example, such scale measures do not consider disaster-prevention consciousness but the knowledge and behavior related to disaster prevention. For this problem, Ozeki et al. specify the operational definition of disaster-prevention consciousness and propose the model of disaster-prevention consciousness based on an interview survey of experts [1]. In this study, the question items are formulated from the concepts extracted based on the results of Ozeki et al., and factor analysis is conducted not by targeting the particular region and attribute, but by using the answers from the monitors of an internet survey company. As a result, 5 factors are extracted, namely “imagination of damage situation,” “sense of crisis to current measures against disaster,” “other-directedness,” “anxiety,” and “indifference to disaster prevention.” These factors are correlated with each scaled score in the previous studies. There remain some problems; however, the first step has been taken for the development of a new scale for disaster-prevention consciousness which ordinary citizens could use regardless of the kind of disaster.

Several earthquake incidents in the East Java province have resulted in numerous disadvantages such as damaged buildings and victims that were physically and emotionally wounded. The problem that has arisen in these situations is how victims of natural disasters often receive late responses and little to no information about relief efforts from authorities. Local governments and disaster relief organizations have not initiated the right method of communication to give important information toward disaster victims when information technologies have developed rapidly. The present study opt for a qualitative research design to conduct the interviews from the victims of disaster living nearby Malang and Blitar regencies of Indonesia. It examines how people living in earthquake-prone regions are communicating during the disaster using smartphones and social networking services. The findings of the research show that people living in the disaster-risk areas use mobile phones, smartphones, and social networking services in their daily life; yet, not many of them using these devices and services to look for information about earthquakes. Although authorities have created digital channels as a source of information, it does not receive significant attention and interest of the people at risk. The problems with uneven digital media literacy and lack of resources remain unresolved. Cooperation between authorities and people is expected, to ensure that the use of existing communication technologies becomes more effective and efficient in earthquake relief efforts and countermeasures.

Construction restrictions implemented in some coastal areas of Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, after the Great East Japan Earthquake were necessary for reconstructing residences and town buildings; however, they were criticized for delaying the recovery and reconstruction of the fish processing industry that was affected by the disaster. In areas that were affected by the construction restrictions, a foundation development for the Cluster Zone (CZ) of fish processing industry facilities was implemented, and companies were only allowed to rebuild their plants more than three years later when the project was completed. In areas that became designated for a land readjustment project (LRP) several years after the disaster, plants that had been repaired were forced to relocate. The present study targeted the fish processing industry of Kesennuma City and conducted a questionnaire on companies that had their offices in the areas that were likely impacted by such policies and projects. We conducted an interview to understand the specific impact of such policies and projects on company management. Based on the above survey, we reached the following conclusions. First, many companies that had plants in the scheduled CZ, which was determined after the disaster, relocated their plants. Many companies felt that construction restrictions and the foundation development project (FDP) for the CZ delayed the recovery of plants. Second, companies that were impacted by the FDP of the CZ, LRP, etc. experienced delays in the recovery of sales channels and hiring, the dispersion of plants, increased costs due to the move, and the abandonment of some manufacturing. Third, as measures to alleviate the impact on companies of the government preparing industrial lands after large-scale disasters, we discuss measures to speed up project implementation, support for the use of production bases, and other important aspects.

Large earthquakes have repeatedly occurred from Hokkaido to the Kamchatka Peninsula along the Kuril Trench. First, we confirmed the successive occurrence of large earthquakes of similar magnitude in nearby regions and within a short time interval using earthquake catalogs issued by international organizations. The searching criteria was whether a succeeding earthquake (Mw ≥ 7.75) had occurred within 500 km and 3 years of a preceding earthquake (Mw ≥ 7.70) in the period between 1890 and 2014. The pairs of successively occurring earthquakes were the June 1893 and March 1894 earthquakes, the September and November 1918 earthquakes, the October 1963 earthquakes, the October 1994 and December 1995 earthquakes, and the November 2006 and January 2007 earthquakes. These 5 pairs among the 21 large earthquakes were identified the successively occurring large earthquakes. Next, we tried to relocate the epicenters of the 1918 earthquakes because their epicenters had been changed in the version of the earthquake catalog referenced. We re-read the arrival times of the P and S waves from the seismograms of Japan Meteorological Agency and estimated the epicenters for the 1918 earthquakes from S-P times. The epicenters were a relative offset of about 160 km and the September event was near the epicenter of the 2006 Kuril earthquake.

Expectant and nursing mothers need to prepare for natural disasters to protect their lives and their children’s lives and to maintain their health and daily life after the disaster. This study aimed to clarify the actual conditions of disaster preparedness behaviors of expectant and nursing mothers and to identify factors promoting disaster preparation behavior and behavioral intentions that lead to disaster preparation behavior among expectant and nursing mothers. We conducted a cross-sectional survey involving 1,000 expectants and nursing mothers between October 2020 and January 2021 using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. We received 135 valid responses. The questionnaire included items about the actual status of disaster preparation, attitudes toward preparation behavior based on Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, subjective norms on disaster preparation determined by perceived expectations from others, descriptive norms on disaster preparation that refer to the perceptions of others’ engagement in disaster preparation behavior, perceptions of behavioral control that refer to views regarding how easy or difficult it is to perform a given behavior, and social support sources that are required for disaster preparation behavior. Correlations among variables were analyzed. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test a model to explain factors encouraging expectant and nursing mothers to prepare for disaster.

The eruptive volumes and ages of the large-scale pumice eruptions of the Asama-Maekake volcano were obtained from extensive trench-based surveys. The calibrated radiocarbon age unit (CRAU) was adopted instead of each calibrated radiocarbon age. From the high-resolution tephro-stratigraphy of large-scale pumice eruptions and CRAU dating, the eruptive history of the Asama-Maekake volcano is divided into three active and two moderately active stages as follows: active stage I (9430 to 7260 ycalBP), moderately active stage 1 (7261 to 6446 ycalBP), active stage II (6447 to 3160 ycalBP), moderately active stage 2 (3161 to 1819 ycalBP), and active stage III (1820 ycalBP to present). The eruptions of the Asama-Maekake volcano consists of small-scale (phreatic to phreato-magmatic), intermediate-scale (Vulcanian), and large-scale pumice eruptions (sub-Plinian). The active stages were characterized by the occurrence of large-scale pumice eruptions. In the moderately active stages, pumice producing eruptions were lacking but instead Vulcanian eruptions dominated. A step diagram showing the relationship between eruption volumes (DRE) and ages (CRAU) is proposed, which indicates that active stage III is not time-predictable but is volume-predictable; if the large-scale pumice eruption occurs in 2022 AD, the forecasted eruptive volume is approximately 0.21 km³. The eruption rate is not constant and changes in each stage, and the average eruption rate of active stage III (0.0011 km³/year) is larger than those of active stage I (0.00006 km³/year) and II (0.0001 km³/year).

Open data is a practical source for identifying disaster risks. However, few studies have examined open data usage. This study employed CiteSpace to conduct a bibliometric analysis to determine the evolution of open data in the field of disaster risk based on the literature. The findings were as follows: first, the existing disaster-related research can be classified into four categories: introduction to risk management and its concepts, multi-hazard response, studies on the specific background or context, and analysis of the technology or methods used in disaster risk reduction. Second, the relevant literature first emerged in 1997 and has rapidly expanded in recent years. Top keywords were identified, such as “natural disaster,” “risk,” and “climate change.” Third, the most productive country in terms of publications has been the People’s Republic of China; however, the low centrality indicates a lack of international collaborations. Fourth, several bursts were found in the collected literature. The term “data analysis” appears to be one of the most pressing concerns. Finally, we identified the research frontiers. The topic “accessible global dataset” has been of primary interest to researchers recently. The results of this study can provide directional references for future research in the field.

In recent years, several large-scale flood disasters occurred in Japan. The large-scale flooding causes not only direct damage but also indirect damage due to the closure of lifelines such as water, electricity, roads, and railways, and both impact the affected region’s resilience. Therefore, it is important to understand the current level of disaster resilience and consider non-structural measures accordingly to prepare for the next disastrous event. To assess current disaster resilience requires understanding how each building or lifeline structure is damaged in a disaster and the recovery time. In this study, water supply related facilities are selected from various kinds of lifelines, and a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate facility damage and recovery after being affected by major flood events occurring in Japan after 2015. A comprehensive study on the damage and recovery of water supply related facilities due to flood has never been conducted, not only in Japan but also worldwide. This is because of difficulty in collecting enough data from many facilities, and thus, there have been reports of damage and recovery of an individual facility, but not more. However, occurrence of several severe flooding disasters in recent years in Japan made it possible to do so. This study dug into not only facility-level damage and recovery but also component level ones based on the quantity of data collected (97 components from 61 facilities) through the questionnaire survey. We found that control panels are most likely to be damaged by flood, and the number of days required for temporary recovery strongly depends on how quikly replacement equipment/parts for failed equipment can be procured.