Undesignated Evacuation Site Location Characteristics: Identification by Mobile Spatial Statistics and Consideration of Support Methods

When a large-scale disaster occurs, disaster-affected people are evacuated to undesignated evacuation sites. Such evacuees are detected by reports to the government from the evacuees themselves, neighborhoods, or support groups, by information from social media, or by official government patrols. However, finding them and providing timely support during the chaotic period at the beginning of a disaster is difficult. In this study, we propose a method for identifying such evacuees using mobile special statistics provided by NTT DOCOMO, Inc. We then analyzed the location characteristics of the undesignated evacuation sites. Undesignated evacuation sites tended to be located near designated evacuation shelters and major roads as location characteristics. Using these results, searching for undesignated evacuation sites based on designated evacuation shelters and delivering assistance to a larger number of disaster-affected people is possible. The findings enable efficient search and assistance strategies, offering valuable insights for disaster response planning.