Examining the Indirect Death Surveillance System of The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Xiang Zheng (), Chuyao Feng and Mikio Ishiwatari
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Xiang Zheng: Department of International Studies, University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8561, Japan
Chuyao Feng: Department of International Studies, University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8561, Japan
Mikio Ishiwatari: Department of International Studies, University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8561, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: The long-term mortality risk of natural disasters is a key threat to disaster resilience improvement, yet an authoritative certification and a reliable surveillance system are, unfortunately, yet to be established in many countries. This study aimed to clarify the mechanism of post-disaster indirect deaths in Japan, to improve the existing disaster recovery evaluation system and support decision making in public policy. This study first investigated the definition of indirect deaths via a literature review before examining the observed number of indirect deaths via case study, census data from the Population Demographic and Household Surveys, other social surveys, and reports in the case of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, which severely damaged northeastern Japan, especially the three prefectures, which are the target areas in this context (i.e., Fukushima, Iwate, and Miyagi). It was found that the reported number of indirect deaths was significantly underestimated. In total, 4657 indirect deaths were estimated to have occurred in the target prefectures. This was higher than the reported number, which was 3784. The overall statistics established via collaboration between local administrations and governments can be improved to provide better reference for researchers and policymakers to investigate the long-term effects of natural disaster.

Keywords: indirect death; long-term effects; excess mortality; earthquake fatalities; surveillance system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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