Accessibility Assessment of Emergency Vehicles in Tokyo Metropolitan Area After a Large Earthquake

Abstract

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> At the time of a large earthquake, property collapse (e.g., building collapse and street blockage) will obstruct emergency activities (e.g., firefighting activity and ambulance service) and cause the expansion of secondary damage. For reducing the secondary damage of a large earthquake, it is important to assess the accessibility of emergency activity under property collapse. However, the accessibility index, which can evaluate the emergency activity considering the effect of property collapse, is not developed nor applied in actual urban area. In this paper, we propose the street network accessibility: indices of assessing the movement of emergency vehicles. Then, we construct a simulation model that describes property collapse and the movement of emergency vehicles. Performing the simulation in Tokyo Metropolitan Area, we evaluate the damage of each building/street and assess the street network accessibility after a large earthquake. Finally, analysing the relationships among indices, we indicate that it is important to evaluate the street network accessibility from multiple viewpoints.</p>