A white cover, photos of town and waterfront in bird view

Title

Jishin Higai no Multiscale Yōin Bunseki (Multiscale Analysis of Earthquake Damage Factors)

Author

OHMURA Junzo

Size

232 pages, hardcover

Language

Japanese

Released

March 08, 2024

ISBN

9784909782229

Published by

Chiisago-Sha

See Book Availability at Library

Jishin Higai no Multiscale Yōin Bunseki

Japanese Page

view japanese page

Research on the causal factors of earthquake-related disasters, including structural and human casualties, spans diverse fields such as seismology, engineering, and the humanities/social sciences. Despite these efforts, disciplinary segregation and specialization has often led each field to identify distinct causal factors, even when analyzing the same event. Moreover, these findings are rarely synthesized in a comprehensive manner. This fragmented approach leads to an oversimplification of the damage patterns and incomplete understanding of disasters that overlook regional specificities.
 
The factors contributing to earthquake damage extend beyond seismic motion itself, encompassing both natural (e.g., geographic features) and human-made (e.g., social and infrastructural) elements. These interact in complex ways to shape the extent and nature of damage. To capture a comprehensive view of how damage occurs, it is necessary to adopt an interdisciplinary approach that integrates both natural and social factors. Rather than simply listing these complex and multilayered damage factors, a framework is needed that can effectively organize them across case studies and regions.
 
Geographic phenomena, including earthquakes, manifest across multiple scales, with causal relationships differing based on how the phenomenon distribution is understood at each scale. This book organizes the damage factors by modeling multilayered structures, incorporating a multiscale analysis approach. This approach enables: 1) visualization of damage structures encompassing factors from macro to micro scales; 2) differentiation of scales and impact among various causal factors; 3) understanding of the layered interrelationships between disaster triggers, natural elements, and social elements; and 4) comparison and classification of damage structures across cases and regions.
 
Focusing on inland earthquake cases from the early modern and modern periods, this book examines earthquake damage factors from various perspectives, aiming to model and compare affected structures. For example, during the 1927 North Tango Earthquake in the Mineyama region and the 1925 North Tajima Earthquake in the Kinosaki region, certain similarities emerged: extensive building collapses near the epicenter, fire spread in wood-dominated residential areas of commercial districts, and disproportionate impact on women, thus exhibiting similar damage escalation patterns. In contrast, despite significant fire damage in the Iso region (North Tango Earthquake) and the Tsuiyama region (North Tajima Earthquake), both fishing villages exhibited different damage patterns; human casualties were minimized as men were outdoors at the time of the disaster and rescue and relief efforts were effective. The damage factor organization method presented in this book effectively highlights differences and similarities in damage patterns, providing insights that can be valuable for disaster mitigation efforts.
 

(Written by OHMURA Junzo, Research Associate, Earthquake Research Institute / 2024)

Try these read-alike books: