# The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake and ICT Utilization

This Chapter outlines the status of information and communications at the time of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake and explains the roles played by ICT and problems newly revealed, in comparison with the situation at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake and in light of the progress of ICT and its dissemination as social infrastructure.

Section 1 ICT Utilization at the Time of Disasters

# 1. ICT Utilization at the Time of the Great East Japan Earthquake

## (1) Information Conveyance and ICT at Disaster-stricken Areas

According to an interview survey conducted after the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, highly instantaneous broadcasting tools such as radio, TV, and disaster radio were used more frequently than other media for collecting tsunami and other information just after the earthquake's occurrence. Their evaluation concerning information-gathering media just after the earthquake suggest the necessity to secure multiple routes to transmit highly instantaneous information.

At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake, mobile phones could not be used for a prolonged time due to network congestion, damage to base stations and back-up power fuel shortage, and disaster victims were left stranded. On the other hand, the significance of mobile phones as a lifeline was reaffirmed with their characteristics of being equipped with diverse functions including short-message and One-Seg-receiving functions. Based on such evaluation, the importance of securing multi-layered functions and power sources for mobile phones was pointed out in order to ensure information communication under all circumstances.

During evacuation shelter life, mobile phones were the most needed ICT, followed by TVs and radios. Needs for the ICT environment are thus high in shelters and temporary housing. An environment is called for that enables disaster victims to collect and select necessary information by themselves.

## (2) Business Continuation and ICT at the Time of a Disaster

At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake, communications infrastructure was broadly disrupted and could not be used due to congestion, etc. Such circumstances also hinder activities for recovery and reconstruction, and therefore, it is required to make efforts for building disaster-resilient ICT infrastructure. The survey also revealed the fact that, with regard to business continuation and ICT utilization upon a disaster, there are gaps in awareness and concrete measures among organizations by size and suggested the necessity to develop an environment where anyone can utilize cloud services stably with peace of mind.

### 2. Changes in ICT Utilization Environment after the Great East Japan Earthquake

## (1) Transition to Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting

On March 31, 2012, complete transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting was accomplished nationwide, including three prefectures in Tohoku, which delayed about 8 months due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. Digital terrestrial broadcasting makes it possible to scale down images on the screen and indicate information unrelated to an on-air program in the margin with letters and simple images. This enables universal broadcasting and provision of localized information at the same time.

## (2) Dissemination of Smartphones

Widespread use of smartphones is one of the significant changes in the ICT utilization environment. The household ownership rate of smartphones, which was 9.7% at the end of 2010, sharply increased to 72.0% at the end of 2015, showing a rapid dissemination in five years. The utilization rate of social network services (SNS) is also increasing rapidly, from 10.5% at the end of 2011 to 48.9% at the end of 2015.

## (3) Commencement of Operation of L-Alert

MIC has been promoting nationwide dissemination of L-Alert, a common base for information communication that local governments who issue evacuation recommendations and instructions, only required to put them into the fommon format at the time of a disaster or in the