世論 What Japan Thinks

With the 11th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (Kobe and surrounding area) on 17th of January 1995 being today, I thought it would be appropriate to present this survey by the Japanese Government’s Cabinet Office regarding people’s opinions on earthquakes. Out of 10,000 people asked, 7,232 people completed questionnaires regarding earthquakes over a two week period at the end of September. Demographic information is available at the end of the survey. Note that for a change, because this was a personal interview-based survey the age spread is much broader than most of the internet-based polls I present. All questions were answered by all 7,232 respondents.

For the last few years, at least once every couple of months there has been a special on TV regarding earthquakes, covering in particular how everyone is going to die horribly when The Big One hits Tokyo. In amongst the tabloid sensationalism is, however, the occasional nugget of useful information. Two nights ago, for instance, they covered how to escape from a lift stuck between floors, then emergency toilets, including how much water is needed to flush a standard three-jobbie plus loo roll down to the nearest main sewer pipe (five litres to go 15 metres, in case you’re wondering and I’m remembering correctly).

This survey was taken before the Aneha scandal blew up, so perhaps if this survey was repeated today, the answers would be rather different.

Although the above-mentioned Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake happened before I came to Japan, I have talked to a number of people who were living in Kobe at the time, and almost everyone had some tale of personal or family-related disaster that really impressed upon me the human scale of the disaster. I recommend anyone with the opportunity to talk to someone from the area to sensitively enquire about their experiences.

Q1: Regarding earthquakes and related information, which of the following might you like to learn about? (Multiple answer)

Information about the degree of risk in the area where I live	53.5%
Information regarding the degree of risk of buildings	37.8%
Information on earthquake prediction	35.8%
Disaster prevention information	35.7%
Information on technical terms like magnitude	16.2%
Mechanisms that cause earthquakes to occur	15.0%
Other	0.2%
Nothing in particular	10.9%
Don’t know	2.5%

Q2: From where do you obtain information about earthquakes? (Multiple answer)

Television and radio	95.8%
Newspapers and magazines	60.8%
Local or national government information sheets or disaster prevention guides	13.3%
Earthquake or disaster prevention-related books	4.6%
School class work	4.5%
Lectures by earthquake or disaster prevention specialists	2.4%
Other	0.5%
Nowhere in particular	1.0%
Don’t know	0.4%

Q3: When an earthquake occurs, each affected area’s Shindo is disclosed. Shindo is expressed on a scale from 0 to 7, with, for instance, Shindo 3 means that the room shakes, doors rattle, lights and other hanging objects sway noticeably, and the surface of water in containers moves. Do you have a proper understanding of this Shindo scale?

Understand well	5.4%
Understand to some degree	55.8%
Don’t really understand	28.2%
Almost or completely do not understand	7.7%
Don’t know	2.9%

Q4: When an earthquake occurs, in addition to the Shindo, the magnitude is also disclosed. Do you know what this magnitude is?

Magnitude is another name for Shindo, so they are the same thing	5.4%
Magnitude is somewhat different from Shindo, but they are roughly the same	25.3%
Magnitude is completely different from Shindo	37.4%
Other	0.2%
Don’t know	31.7%

Q5: After an earthquake occurs, earthquake and tsunami-related information is disclosed. Where do you obtain this information from? (Multiple answer)

Television	96.1%
Radio	42.5%
Local government disaster office broadcasts or loudspeaker van	11.2%
Neighbourhood group or independent disaster prevention organisation	2.0%
Local or prefectural offices	2.3%
Nearby meteorological office	1.8%
Other	0.3%
Nowhere in particular	0.2%
Don’t know	0.2%

Note that after all earthquakes of about Shindo 3 and more all TV stations broadcast automatic alerts, so just about everyone will get information from the television, thus the high figure for television as a source.

Q6-1: If an earthquake occurred where you live, directly after the quake what in particular would you want to know. (Up to three answers)

Information on family and relatives’ safety or injuries	66.0%
Strength of the quake in the area	44.0%
Epicentre and scale of the quake	36.4%
Utilities damage and restoration predictions	35.9%
Aftershock predictions and other earthquake activity	35.1%
Information on friends’ safety or injuries	19.6%
Transport facilities damage and restoration predictions	14.1%
Whether a tsunami was predicted	13.2%
Damage to schools, hospitals and other public facilities	6.8%
Damage to workplace	4.7%
National and local government’s activities	2.8%
Other	0.5%
Nothing in particular	1.0%
Don’t know	0.7%

Q6-1: If an earthquake occurred where you live, a few hours after the quake what in particular would you want to know. (Up to three answers)

Utilities damage and restoration predictions	47.2%
Transport facilities damage and restoration predictions	39.1%
Aftershock predictions and other earthquake activity	35.1%
Information on friends’ safety or injuries	33.7%
Information on family and relatives’ safety or injuries	30.1%
Epicentre and scale of the quake	16.2%
Damage to schools, hospitals and other public facilities	16.0%
National and local government’s activities	13.6%
Damage to workplace	13.3%
Strength of the quake in the area	12.2%
Whether a tsunami was predicted	4.2%
Other	0.3%
Nothing in particular	1.8%
Don’t know	1.4%

Q7: After a large earthquake, rumours about where and when the next earthquake will occur fly around. Do you believe these rumours?

I believe	3.2%
I believe to some extent	18.4%
I don’t really believe	34.9%
I don’t believe at all	41.3%
Don’t know	2.2%

Q8: If this sort of rumour was doing the rounds, who would you confirm the accuracy of it with? (Multiple answer)

Local government office	15.8%
Fire station	13.8%
Meteorological office	11.7%
Family or friends	11.1%
Police station	7.2%
Television station	5.5%
Newspaper company	4.3%
University or research centre	0.9%
Probably wouldn’t confirm it	53.5%
Other	0.5%
Don’t know	3.0%

Q9: Given current techniques, to what degree do you think earthquakes can be predicted?

All earthquakes can be predicted	4.0%
Magnitude 7 class and above earthquakes can be predicted	12.8%
Using specialised observation methods, the Tokai Earthquake can be predicted	17.8%
Regardless of the strength or scale of earthquakes, they cannot be predicted	44.5%
Other	0.6%
Don’t know	20.3%

Sex

Male	45.1%
Female	54.9%

Age

15-19	5.8%
20-29	11.2%
30-39	15.2%
40-49	20.8%
50-59	18.8%
60-69	17.9%
70-79	8.6%
80 years old and over	1.9%

Home construction materials

Wood	55.2%
Wood frame with fire-resistant cladding	26.6%
Wood-free materials (stone, brick, metal, concrete, etc)	18.2%

Scary earthquake experience

Felt scared of injury	26.2%
Not felt scared or don’t know	73.8%

Dwelling type

Detached house	80.3%
Shared dwelling, up to two storeys tall	8.5%
Shared dwelling, over two storeys tall	11.2%

Dwelling location

Residential area	68.7%
Shopping area	4.9%
Industrial area	2.4%
Rural area	23.4%
Other	0.6%