The transmission of information in the immediate aftermath of the great East Japan earthquake by the administration in their efforts to establish safe communities

Background This survey examines the availability of information in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in X City, which was affected by the disaster, and considers future disaster response policies. Aims/Methods For the survey, 451 households in X City were randomly selected from among the 26 818 households. Results The survey yielded 359 responses from 248 of the 451 households. Attributes of the respondents; of the 681 people who responded, 294 (43.2%) were male, 355 (52.1%) were female, and 4.7%did not disclose their gender. The average age of the respondents was 48.7 (±22.6 years). Four hundred and ten respondents (60.3%) were married. The day after the earthquake; Moreover, 90 people (25.1%) were able to obtain the information they required the day after the earthquake, that is, three in four people could not obtain information. One week after the earthquake; 223 people (62.1%) reported that they were able to obtain the information they required. (5.9%) reported that although they were gradually able to access information, they could hardly obtain any information9 even after 1 week. Significance Incidentally, 166 people responded, ‘The disaster took me by surprise and I was unable to cope with it as I wished and 156 (43.4%) said that they could cope with it as they wished. A safe community disaster program is one in which citizens learn disaster response measures in times of non-emergency.