Children’s awareness and the effects of disaster prevention education: Impact of the great east Japan earthquake tsunami

<!--!introduction!--><p>This study investigated trends in disaster preparedness awareness among elementary school children in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Questionnaire surveys conducted before, immediately after, and one month after the delivery classes revealed regional differences in children's disaster awareness.Compared to coastal areas, inland areas had relatively lower disaster awareness. Children in the coastal area of Fukushima were highly motivated to learn about disaster prevention, and their disaster risk assessment increased even after the on-site class, and remained high one month later, indicating the influence of the earthquake off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, which occurred frequently from the Great East Japan Earthquake to the present and continued to occur even after the delivery classes. The Miyagi coastal area has a high awareness of evacuation behavior in the event of a disaster, suggesting that the importance of evacuation behavior may be shared within the family due to the many past tsunami disasters. The Fukushima inland area showed a high fear of natural hazards and a tendency to lack confidence in their actions in the event of a disaster, while the Miyagi inland area showed low fear of disasters, assessed low disaster frequency, and showed low interest in family commitments. Finally, this study suggests the factors that influence the effectiveness and sustainability of disaster prevention education for children including the geographical characteristics of the region, past disaster experiences, and the number of local disaster training programs.</p>

The 28th IUGG General Assembly (IUGG2023) (Berlin 2023)