The person who wrote this article
Daitetsu Teruya
[Ishigaki]In response to the announcement of a tsunami warning due to the Taiwanese earthquake on the 3rd, Ishigaki City released the results of a survey of residents regarding the evacuation situation on the 23rd. The number of responses was 1,349, of which 74% (1001 responses) said they “evacuated” and 26% (352 responses) said they “did not evacuate.” Of those who “evacuated,” 57% (574 cases) said “evacuated by car.” Issues that emerged included dissemination of evacuation methods other than cars and measures to alleviate traffic congestion. The city also noted that out of the city’s population of 50,000, 13,000 people did not evacuate, stating that “tsunami evacuation awareness activities need to be strengthened.”
The survey was conducted from the 5th to the 14th using the city’s official line.
When the tsunami warning was announced, traffic jams occurred in various parts of the city. Of the evacuation methods, 57% used cars, while 34% (337 evacuations) used walking. On the other hand, when asked how long each evacuation method took, 42% said it took 15 minutes or more to evacuate by car, while 13% said it took walking. Additionally, 76% of walkers reached the evacuation center within 10 minutes. The city believes that “there is a risk of evacuation by car.”
Regarding evacuation destinations, the most common was “nearby high ground” at 34% (345 cases), and the least common was “temporary evacuation building” at 6% (63 cases). The city said, “We need to spread awareness about the importance of temporary evacuation buildings and vertical evacuation.”
The age of respondents ranged from 10s to 80s, with 29% (386 cases) of respondents in their 40s. Women accounted for 69% (930 cases), while men accounted for 31% (419 cases), less than half of women.
In response to the results of the survey, Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama called on people to “evacuate on foot, except for those who have difficulty walking,” in order to ease traffic congestion. The city will also publish the details of the results on its website.
(Daitetsu Teruya)
