15 Years On: Japan’s Tsunami Evacuation Still Poses Challenges

Sendai, Miyagi Pref., March 11 (Jiji Press)–While three northeastern Japan prefectures hit hard by the March 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami have taken the disaster as a learning opportunity, tsunami evacuation measures still have issues. Just last year, residents of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures evacuated following tsunami warnings and advisories issued after a powerful quake struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in July and another temblor off northeastern Japan in December. In the March 11, 2011 disaster, the huge number of evacuees overwhelmed evacuation centers, disrupting the distribution of relief supplies. Learning from this, the Miyagi prefectural government developed a system to accurately grasp the number of evacuees using a smartphone app that incorporates the My Number personal identification card. Launched in autumn 2024, the app had been downloaded by over 1.1 million people as of Friday. The system allows both the Miyagi prefectural government and local municipalities to instantly grasp information on evacuees when they scan their app’s quick response, or QR, code at designated evacuation shelters for identification. According to the prefectural government, up to 13,000 people evacuated after the Kamchatka temblor, which triggered the first tsunami warning since the system was launched. The only users of the app at an evacuation center were two people in the town of Minamisanriku. Although the quake did not require a large-scale evacuation that makes the app useful, “it’s important for our residents to practice using the app,” Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai said. Hoping to promote further use of the app, the prefectural government, together with local municipalities, has been working to encourage participants in evacuation drills to use it. Such drills were held at five municipalities in fiscal 2024 and 15 in fiscal 2025. During the drills, evacuee registration took just a few seconds for app users, much quicker than writing out the necessary information by hand. While many residents who used the app said that the process was easy, its wider use may be a challenge for the elderly. In a drill held in the Miyagi town of Onagawa last September, an 84-year-old participant completed her registration process on her smartphone app with the aid of a prefectural government employee. “Although registration was very easy, I don’t think I would be able to complete it without receiving an explanation every time,” she said. A 79-year-old man said: “While the process is easy once you learn it, many elderly residents don’t own smartphones. They can’t use (the app) as well as young people.” A Miyagi government official said, “All we can do is patiently promote the app through such drills.” Last year’s quakes also highlighted problems with people evacuating by car. The Iwate prefectural government in fiscal 2023 informed local municipalities of its general policy on evacuations by vehicle. But traffic jams occurred during evacuations following the quakes. “We’ve realized that it’s necessary for us to draw up rules for evacuations by vehicle and inform the general public,” a prefectural government official said. The Iwate government will continue discussions with coastal municipalities. Fukushima Prefecture is still impacted by delays in the recovery of administrative functions and returns of residents after the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was triggered by the March 2011 quake and tsunami. A prefectural government official pointed to the issue of the lack of relationships between local municipalities and relevant organizations that would enable smooth information sharing over ways to guide evacuating people and the selection of locations where evacuation shelters will be set up. The official indicated that the Fukushima government will take the lead with municipalities near the nuclear plant and related organizations to confirm evacuation procedures in the event of a disaster. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]