Factors affecting post-evacuation behaviors following an earthquake: A questionnaire-based survey

Abstract

In order to elucidate the factors that influence the post-evacuation behaviors of university members following an earthquake, this study administered a questionnaire survey to 109 faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduates at a national university in Japan, and investigated the situations in which they were likely to return to their university building. Through face-to-face interviews, the participants were asked to rate the extent to which they would return to their university building, based on 13 situations. The results indicated that they were more likely to return to their building in several situations, including when the building was not severely damaged, when they did not evacuate with their personal belongings, when individuals with disabilities remained in the building, and after the other evacuees began returning to the building. In contrast, their return was more unlikely when the building was severely damaged (due to fire or an accidental gas leak) or when there was a mandatory no-entry order implemented. In addition, the exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors (i.e., Environmental and Disaster severity), while gender differences influenced the use of restroom facilities on campus. The findings of this study provide useful insights into emergency management and planning for building that store and handle hazardous materials.

Relevance of disaster awareness factors and evacuation experiment without emergency alarm: fire case study

“…These two experiments, the students were able to evacuate from the room in less than one minute. The common but inappropriate behavior was the return to evacuate the personal belongings which are relevant to previous study (Koshiba and Suzuki, 2018).…”

The 2016 Kaikωura Earthquake: Experiences of Safety, Evacuation, and Return for Apartment Dwellers in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa New Zealand

“…Also relevant are external drivers such as utility outages and whether neighborhoods or housing are accessible (Wright and Johnston 2010). Other considerations include age, ethnicity, cultural, socio-economic status, type of dwelling, location, and social-political standpoints, which intersect to propel human action and therefore promote or hinder preparedness, evacuation, and response (Drabek 1969;Huang et al 2016;Koshiba and Suzuki 2018;Lindell and Perry 2012;Perry 1983;Shapira, Aharonson-Daniela, and Bar-Dayana 2018;Sorensen and Mileti 1988;Thompson et al 2017;Wood et al 2017;Wright and Johnston 2010).…”

Configuration, furniture layout, and earthquake hazards in campus buildings

“…The study emphasized the importance of collaboration between schools and the community in building a comprehensive disaster management framework. Moreover, [11] identified the factors influencing post-evacuation behavior among academic communities. Another study also showed that campuses have become important to the studies related to emergency evacuation planning during earthquakes due to their strategic location in densely populated urban areas [12].…”