Socio-economic Recovery from the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster-Report of Panel Survey Data 20011

231

Keiko TAMURA , Haruo HAYASHI , Shigeo TATSUKI and Reo KIMURA
1)

Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University
3)
Department of Sociology, Doshisya University
2)

Abstract
This study is based on the analysis of one of social sampling random surveys conducted in theHanshin-Awaji Earthquake impacted area every two-year from 1999. 2001 and 2003 surveys were designed
as the panel surveys, and 2005 survey will be. The administration in Hyogo Prefecture had promoted thepolicy for the recovery which set three major fields; 1) redeveloping destructed cities, 2) revitalizing localeconomics, 3) reconstructing victims’ daily and social life; however, there was no study about what life
recovery was from victims’ point of view. The research frame building for the survey study washypothesized by the major findings from the grass-root workshops, which identified seven critical factors;
housing, social ties, land use planning, physical/mental health, preparedness, economic/financial situation,and relation to government. It was the main theme of designing 2001 and 2003 surveys to examine how
those seven elements determined the degree of life recovery in the impacted area.
To redevelop the destructed cities, housing was the most critical issue among victims. 36.8% ofrespondents were evacuated, and 42.4% of those who moved to emergency shelters after the impact. At thetime of 100th after the impact, 12.3% respondents stayed at emergency shelters while near the same size ofthem was in family and relatives’ houses. To revitalize local economics, victims’ economic condition was
the most critical issue. There was strong correlation between the degree of housing damage and the present
condition of their family budget. When the respondents’ houses suffered the severe damage, their family
budget was still in bad condition. Especially the cost of housing, medicine, and insurance increased
compared with the condition before the event, while the expense of having recreation activities decreased.
To reconstruct victims’ daily and social life, their mental and physical condition had to be considered first.
When respondents had lower mental stress, they had high sense of life-restoration. On the other hand, when
respondents had moderate physical stress, they had high sense of life-recovery.

Introduction
The recovery from disasters is not a new issue in Japan, which had been discussed after major disasters,such as 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and WWⅡ; however, the recovery at those times was mainly considered as
the reconstruction of physical structures in cities. The reconstruction process from the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake was the first time in Japanese History to be considered not only as the reconstruction of physicalstructures but also reconstruction of social structures. The administration in Hyogo Prefecture hadpromoted the policy for the long-term recovery, which set three major fields; 1) redeveloping destructedcities, 2) revitalizing local economics, 3) reconstructing victims’ daily and social life. The Disaster Master
Plan of Japanese Government was revised six months after the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, to which theconcept of the recovery from disasters was added in order to reflect the Hyogo Prefecture’s policy.
Four social surveys were planned to conduct in the impacted area of Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1999 toclarify what life recovery was for the victims themselves. The research frame building for the 2001 survey
study was hypothesized by the major findings from the grass-root workshops, which identified seven criticalfactors which influence long-term recovery; 1) housing, 2) social ties, 3) land use planning, 4)
physical/mental health, 5) preparedness, 6) economic/financial situation, and 7) relation to government.
This study showed major results of 2001 Survey.

489 (30.1%)500Life Recovery Scale

407 (25.1%)

450Ｎ＝1623

high0.4

0.40.303

400
350

0.20.2300

197 (12.1%)

2500.098

154 (9.5%) 154 (9.5%) 138 (8.5%)

2000.084 (5.2%)

150

0.0-0.065

100-0.092-0.116

50

low0

Housing

SocialTies

Land Use
Planning

Physical/ Prepared Economic/ Relation to
Financial Government
Mental-ness
Situation
HealthFig. 1 Seven Elements for Life Recovery-0.2-0.2
男性
Male

女性
FemaleFig. 2 Life Recovery Scale

20・30代
40・50代20-30’s
40-50’s

60以上
60+(Gender & generation)

Samples
The 2001 random sampled mail survey was conducted with 3,300 earthquake disaster victims whoexperienced severe life difficulties due to the 1995 Kobe earthquake. They were sampled based on two-step
stratified random sampling method from those residents of the areas with JMA (Japanese seismic intensityscale) 7 or those with the cut-off of city gas supply for more than two months. Kitaku & Nishiku, whichwere the wards in Kobe city, also included in the sampled area because two areas were considered as the area
where the residents experienced severe life difficulties in spite of not experiencing JMA (Japanese seismicintensity scale) 7 or those with the cut-off of city gas supply for more than two months. 1250 answeredquestionnaires were returned and 1203 were accepted as subjects.
Instruments
Life Recovery Scale. The life recovery scale consists of 14 five-points Likert scale that asks 1) the recoveryof daily activity, social relationship, subjective well-being (7 items), 2) life satisfaction and quality of life (6items), and 3) optimistic/pessimistic prospect of life that is one year from now (1 item). These 14 items
were originally developed in the 1999 Kobe survey and showed unidimensionality with high reliability(Cronbach's alpha was .91) (Tatsuki & Hayashi, 2000).
Results and Discussion
Demographics. The female respondents had higher sense of life-recovery than the male respondents. 20s
and 30s had much higher sense of life-recovery than 40s and above. Before the severity of housing
damages and respondents’ life stage were analyzed together, the previous findings made us expect that those
who suffered severe housing damages at their later life stage would be the lowest in terms of the sense of life
recovery. Contrary to our expectation, those who suffered severe or moderate damages at 60 years old or
more showed no differences with those who had the same damages at their 40s and 50s. This result can beconsidered as an evidence of support given as the government assistance in providing temporary housingsand low-rent permanent housings to those who were over 60 years old.
Housing. The analysis of responses of questions about housing clarified how victims’ moving at different
time stages.
36.8% of respondents were evacuated, and 42.4% of those moved to emergency shelters afterthe impact. At the time of 100th after the impact, 12.3% respondents stayed at emergency shelters whilenear the same size of them was in family and relatives’ houses. At 1000th, 2.6% respondents remained atemergency shelters. Those findings showed that emergency shelters and temporary housing were not themajor choice for the victims to select their location. The majority of the victims used their own social
networks to seek for help.
Social Ties. The analysis of responses of questions about support for victims made it clear who and whichorganizations will be the most countable for respondents in the case of the next major disaster. Thequestions were asked in terms of ‘personal & emotional support,’ ‘material & financial assistance,’ and‘assistance for receiving vital information.’ 24 choices were given. 8 of 24 choices received the response
rate over the average, which were 1) lifeline services or industries, 2) city administration, 3) mass media, 4)

Life Recovery Scale
high0.5

Feel Happy

0.4

20・30‘s0.3
0.2

40・50‘s

0.1
0-0.1
-0.2

60+-0.3

Feel not Happy

-0.4
-0.5

lowSevereModerateSlightNo

Housing Damage
Fig. 3 Life Recovery Scale (Generation & Housing Damage)

10 2h

10h
63.2

1.5

Home

57.1

6.1

4.0

Kinship

57.8

61.1

10.2

3.3

16.8

5.7
1.7

2.4.8.2

2.2

2.5

4.5.9

3.1

.9

86.1

12.4

1.9
6.5

13.9
.6

73.7

74.6

3.2

7.6

10 4～5 × 10 4 h

10 3 h.1

9.6
.8

2.9

1.1

6.6

1.9

Job.1
.7

Relationship

.7

1.3
1.1

.9

2.2.3

.7

Friends.9

1.7

Neighbors
2.0.8

15.6

10.2

Shelter

1.3

1.2

12.3.15.8

2.6

1.9

2.3.2.7

1.3.6 .2
3

1.1

2.2.5

Temporary
Housing.2.7.9 Rental

Apartment .9

Fig. 4 The Changes of Victims’ Location at Different Time Stages

1.8
1.3.5

3.5

Very Fast

Personal & Emotional Support

Spouse/Partner
Parents
ChildrenLifeline
Service/Industries
Brothers & Sisters
Mass MediaCity
Administration

Assistance for Receiving
Vital Information

Fast

Moderate

Slow

20.6

19.6

22.0

May, 1996

10.7

Aug., 1996

13.5

Nov., 1996

15.9

24.1

Feb., 1997

15.3

25.6

24.8

23.2

Very Slow Others
17.3
10.7

6.8

10.0

6.4

17.9

7.3

7.6

21.0

24.2

9.8

19.4

26.3

Aug., 1997

19.8

24.7

24.3

16.7

7.2

7.3

Feb., 1998

17.6

26.2

25.2

16.3

6.2

8.5

Mar., 1999

16.1

Relatives

Material & Financial AssistanceFeb., 2001

22.60%

Fig. 5 Victims’ Subjective View
on Countable Social Resources

13.8
15.7

20%

11.7

45.7
42.3

40%

60%

8.0

7.5

5.2

5.1

6.3

80%

100%

Fig. 6 Victims’ Subjective View
on the Speed of Redeveloping Destructed Cities

parents, 5) children, 6) spouse or partner, 7) brothers & sisters and 8) relatives. All 7 except mass media
were expected to support people in terms of material & financial assistance. The lifeline services orindustries were considered the most countable in terms of all those three.
Land Use Planning. The numbers of respondents, who thought that the destructed cities had redeveloped,
increased year by year from 1996. This analysis based on 1999 & 2001 survey compared to other social
surveys conducted in Kobe City.
Physical/Mental Health. 12 five-points Likert scale questions were asked about the physical and mental
health. When respondents had lower mental stress, they had high sense of life-recovery. On the otherhand, when respondents had moderate physical stress, they had high sense of life-restoration.
Economic/Financial situation. The questions about the family budget were asked in the form of household
accounts book. 3 choices (decreased, no change, increased) were given to 3 categories (household income,expenditure, savings). In addition the same 3 choices were given to 12 elements of household expenditure;1) food, 2) dining-out, 3) housing, 4) light, fuel and water, 5) other daily necessities, 6) clothing, 7)education,8) entertainment and social, 9) leisure activity, 10) transportation, 11) healthcare, 12) insurance. There isstrong correlation between the degree of housing damage and the present condition of their family budget.
When the respondents’ houses suffered the severe damage, their family budget was still in bad condition,
which means that the amount of the income decreased, the expenditure increased, and savings decreased
compared to the budget condition before the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred. Especially the cost ofhousing, medicine, and insurance increased compared with the condition before the event, while the expenseof having leisure activities and dining-out decreased.
Life Recovery Scale

increasedhighno change

decreased
Housing Damage

0.6

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

00

-0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.4

-0.6

-0.6

Incomeseveremoderateminor
noExpensesc

Savings
lowlow
低中
中
moderate

highMental Stress

低low

中moderate

高highPhysical StressFig. 7 Life Recovery Scale(Physical/Mental Stress)

Fig. 8 Economic/Finance Situation(Housing Damage)％0Water pipelines and facilities
Electrical power lines and facilities
Major hospitals
Major arterial road
Average
Telephone lines and facilities
Cellular phone facilities
Railroad and stations
Single-family houses
Apartment buildings and condominiums
Firehouses and police stations
Natural gas pipelines and facilities
Welfare facilities for elderly people
Other key government buildings
Expressway

51015

2025

30

35

45

40.4

18.5
5.7
4.0

40

14.7

1.9
1.3
1.2
1.2
1.1
1.1
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.2

Office buildings and retail stores 0
Playgrounds and parks in your neighborhood 0
Airport facilities 0Seaport facilities 0
Senior high schools and universities 0
Elementary and junior high schools 0
SHINKANSEN(Bullet train) 0
Nursery schools and kindergarten 0

Fig. 9 Victims’ Priority on Recovering Buildings and Services
Preparedness. The question was designed to ask
respondents the priority in the terms of recovery andreconstruction in the case of the next major disaster.
22 choices including buildings, facilities, and services
were given. The analysis of single-answers of thequestion showed that 4 of 22 choices received aresponse rate over the average, which were 1) water
pipelines and facilities (40.4%), 2) electrical powerlines and facilities (18.5%), 3) major hospitals (14.7%) ,major arterial road (5.7%).

Life Recovery Scalehigh

0.4

0.2
0.083

0.0-0.046

Relation to Government. 4 questions were prepared to
ask respondents’ views of the relationship to thegovernment. As the result of analysis, respondents
were divided into 3 groups; paternalistic, liberal, orcommunitarian orientations. The respondents who
belonged to communitarian orientations showed highsense of life recovery. The respondents who thoughtthat citizens’ participation was crucial in public setting
had high sense of life recovery.

-0.079low-0.2

Communitarian
共和主義

Liberal自由主義

Paternalistic
後見主義

Fig. 10 Life Recovery Scale(Relationship to Government)

References
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