Architectural

Institute of Japan

Translated Paper

Influence of residents’ cognition of their local

environment on evacuation behavior from tsunamis:
A case study of Onjuku, Chiba prefecture
Teruyuki Isagawa1 and Ryuzo Ohno2
1
Faculty of Urban Life Studies, Tokyo City University, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan; 2Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo,
Japan

Correspondence
Teruyuki Isagawa, Faculty of Urban Life Studies, Tokyo
City University, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Email: isagawat@tcu.ac.jp
Funding information
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 23/8599
23360265 The Center for Urban Earthquake Engineering,
Tokyo Institute of Technology (CUEE).
The Japanese version of this paper was published in
Volume 79 Number 705, pages 2405-2413, https://doi.org/
10.3130/aija.79.2405 of the Journal of Architecture and
Planning (Transactions of AIJ). The authors have obtained
permission for secondary publication of the English
version in another journal from the Editor of the Journal
of Architecture and Planning (Transactions of AIJ). This
paper is based on the translation of the Japanese version
with some slight modifications.
Abstract
This paper focuses on the effects of residents’ cognition of their local environ-
ment on evacuation behavior in the event of a tsunami. We conducted question-
naire surveys and a sketch map survey in the coastal area of Onjuku, Chiba
Prefecture. The results revealed the following: (i) evacuation implementation was
influenced by cognition of the terrain around their home (the elevation from sea
level and/or the distance from the sea) although it was not always correct;
(ii) although reasons for choosing evacuation place were different from place to
place, main reasons were the location (proximity and ground height) and the
sense of safety; and (iii) some improper evacuation route choices (approached
the sea, crossed rivers or decreased in elevation) were caused by “distorted” cog-
nitive maps. These results suggest that understanding residents’ cognition is
important in developing effective mitigation measures against tsunamis. The tsu-
nami evacuation planning should include informing residents of the actual struc-
ture of the town and the appropriate direction for evacuation.

Keywords
Received February 9, 2018; Accepted May 13, 2018 environmental cognition, evacuation behavior, route choice, sketch map, terrain,
tsunami
doi: 10.1002/2475-8876.12045

1. Introduction and tsunami flooding area predictions, there is the potential for
damage to exceed predicted flooding areas, as with the 2011
1.1 Background and objectives
earthquake.2 Additionally, while hazard maps provide visual-
Due to major damage from the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast
ization from a bird’s-eye view of the “overall picture” of flood
Earthquake (referred to hereafter as “the 2011 earthquake”)
depth and evacuation behavior, they have been criticized for
that struck on March 11, 2011, which greatly exceeded prior
not necessarily being useful to people in general, who require
estimations, and due to the heightened Cabinet Office1 tsunami
information specific to their case.3 Therefore, in addition to
flooding estimates caused by Nankai Trough earthquakes based
scrutinizing the content of information provided in hazard
on this experience, tsunami evacuation countermeasures in all
maps, it is important that a tsunami disaster prevention
coastal areas are being reviewed, and there is increasing inter-
methodology be established rooted in the diverse connections
est in terrain and evacuation routes in this regard. Of all natu-
between people and the environment.
ral disasters, the extent of damage from tsunami disasters, in
In the past, authors4-6 have conducted fact-finding surveys of
particular, can be predicted in advance to some extent, and the
the behavior of residents in Onjuku in Chiba Prefecture, where
evacuation behavior of residents is believed to be influenced
a large-scale tsunami warning was announced with the 2011
by the state of cognition with regard to the local physical envi-
earthquake, compared to pre-earthquake awareness. This study
ronment (referred to hereafter as the “environment”), including
clarified that the reason that many people did not evacuate was
the terrain, location of evacuation places, and road networks.
the low risk assessment of the area that they were in due to
At the same time, although tsunami hazard maps [Note 1]
elevation relative to sea level and distance from the sea, which
exist that gather information regarding regional environments

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© 2018 The Authors. Japan Architectural Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Architectural Institute of Japan.

Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 486–503

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went against prior intentions to evacuate. An inspection is
required regarding how residents recognize the risks of the
regional environment and tsunamis and how this recognition
influences evacuation behavior, which must be reflected in
future evacuation countermeasures and disaster prevention
training.
Therefore, in an effort to obtain basic materials for an exami-
nation of effective tsunami evacuation countermeasures, the
objective of this study was to analyze the actual tsunami evacua-
tion behavior of residents of the Onjuku coastal region on the
day of the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake in relation
to the regional environment. Additionally, by focusing on the
cognition of residents with regard to the regional environment,
the influence on evacuation behavior shall be clarified. This
paper was developed as an additional supplementary analysis
and revision to the details published in Documents 7–10.
1.2 Previous studies
Much research has been conducted until now into evacuation
behavior during tsunamis, and there have also been case stud-
ies showing the influence of environmental cognition. For
example, Saito11 pointed out that there were many people who
independently decided that there was no need to evacuate the
area of their own homes in areas where evacuation warnings
were announced during the 1989 Sanriku earthquake, and
Miyano and Mochizuki12 referred to the possibility that the
recognition of residents regarding the direction of the tsunami
might have increased the damage during the 1946 Nankai
earthquake.
Additionally, Mikami et al13 stated that there were many
victims in the 2011 earthquake from nearby regions who did
not evacuate to distant evacuation places. However, in existing
evacuation behavior surveys and simulations, there is a strong
tendency to assume a standardized human model regardless of
the residential environment, and there has been insufficient
consideration of the influences of individual specific environ-
ments and the cognition of residents in this regard.
In the research field of environmental cognition and geo-
graphic imaging, there is a great difference between people’s
environmental cognition structures and actual spaces. For exam-
ple, a tendency has been identified whereby ring-shaped railroad
routes are understood to be like a circle,14,15 and crossings are
understood to stand at right angles/straight lines14,16. Addition-
ally, there has been some research in which fire evacuation simu-
lations have quantified such distortions,17 but there has been no
research examining tsunami evacuations in this area. Regarding
the elevation of homes, however, Ohta et al18 pointed out that
residents of low altitude regions believe them to be lower than
they actually are, while many residents of high altitude regions
are unaware of their altitude. They also stated that there is a con-
nection between elevation cognition and tsunami risk percep-
tion. This finding indicates a similar problem awareness to this
study, but the characteristic of this study is that the attention paid
to the physical environment of the region exceeds elevation to
discuss the connection with actual evacuation behavior.
2. Research methods
2.1 Summary of target area
Onjuku in Chiba Prefecture, which is the target area of this
study, is located at the central-eastern end of the Boso Penin-
sula, with coastline in the south and surrounding hills on three
sides. The majority of the town area is formed in lowlands
with an elevation of less than 10 m. In September 2008, the
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ISAGAWA AND OHNO
predicted flooding areas based on simulations conducted by
Chiba Prefecture were highlighted on the tsunami hazard map
distributed to all households,19 and the evacuation places,
evacuation direction, and major roads and bridges, were listed.
The flood height from the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast
Earthquake was 2.5 m20 which did not result in human injury
or physical damage, but the large-scale tsunami warning was
sounded and an estimation was performed for the situation of
a tsunami of 10 m or more, which exceeded the hazard map
estimate [Note 2].
2.2 Survey method
In this study, residents located in the coastal area of Onjuku in
the six districts (Figure 1) included in the flooding prediction
area were given four categories of surveys regarding their
behavior during the tsunami and regarding local environmental
cognition (Table 1).
2.2.1 Questionnaire survey regarding behavior during the
tsunami [Note 3]
To understand the actual behavior of residents after the 2011
earthquake, this survey was conducted among those people who
were present in the village on the day of the earthquake (referred
to hereafter as the “behavioral questionnaire”). Toward the end
of July 2011, with cooperation from the town, the survey was
distributed inside a PR magazine to a total of 2272 households
throughout the region. A total of 447 valid responses were
obtained by mail return (valid return rate: 19.7%). In this report,
an analysis was conducted of 281 cases of people who were at
home when the earthquake struck and who indicated their behav-
ior (not only evacuation) on the map. Their responses were con-
verted into GIS data using Arc GIS version 10.1 (developed by
Esri, CA, USA). For this purpose, basic map information pro-
vided by the Geographical Survey Institute21 was used as the
base map (2500 scale, numerical altitude model; 5 m mesh).
The individual attributes of the respondents that were analyzed
were, by gender, 57.5% women, and by age, 73.6% aged
60 years old or more.
2.2.2 Group interview survey regarding behavior during the
tsunami
This survey (referred to hereafter as the “interview”) was con-
ducted in the middle of November 2012 at venues in each dis-
trict with cooperation from town and ward mayoral
associations with the objective of adding to the content of the
information and detailed behavior obtained on the day of the
2011 earthquake. A total of 108 invitations were sent to those
able to cooperate from the behavioral questionnaire who
signed (with their name) a written statement with their address
and full name, of whom 29 participated (including other per-
sons, total 40 responded this interview).
The reason for the group interview format was that it
reduces the burden on respondents compared to individual
interviews, and 1 year and 8 months had passed since the
earthquake, so memories of the time had started to wane.
Therefore, the aim was for mutual interaction among residents
to enable more accurate discussion. However, because it is
possible for people to bring up non-factual experiences under
the influence of the speech of others, the details of the
responses were compared with those of the questionnaire
respondents.
The individual attributes of the participants were, by gender,
25 men and 15 women, and by age, most were in their 70s (16
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Figure 1. Target area of this study

Table 1. Outline of the surveys conducted in this research

Survey Objective Methods

(1) Questionnaire on residents’ behavior
(2) Interview on residents’ behavior
(3) Sketch map survey
(4) Questionnaire on respondents’
environmental cognition
To understand the actual behavior of
residents during the 2011 earthquake
To obtain further information in addition
to the above results
To extract residents’ environmental
cognition of their towns
To verify the results obtained in the above
sketch map survey quantitatively
Behavior illustrated on the map was extracted
and analyzed by GIS
Group interviews for the representatives were
conducted at venues in each district
Illustrated elements, such as coastline, rivers, main
roads, etc., were analyzed
Multiple-choice questionnaire on positional
relationship between the coast line and national
highways, as well as the position of respondents’
homes, was conducted

people), with approximately 70% being 60 years old or older.
Additionally, regarding behavior on the day of the earthquake,
18 people evacuated, 9 people moved but did not evacuate, 11
people did not move, and 2 people moved as a disaster preven-
tion measure.
2.2.3 Sketch map survey
The environmental cognition structures of residents were sur-
veyed using the process shown in Figure 2, in which the
sketch map method22 was applied.
First, participants were each provided with a piece of
white paper, and they drew the coastline, rivers, main roads,
etc., for the entire town within the setting of “explaining the
characteristics of the town to a first-time visitor.” Next, they
drew all of the evacuation places, evacuation routes from
their homes, the contour lines, etc., that they could remem-
ber. This survey was implemented after the interview, and
maps were acquired from 35 people. Prior to the survey, a
preliminary survey was conducted among four separate peo-
ple to confirm that it is possible to draw the aforementioned
elements to some extent and that such drawings can be
interpreted. The content of the preliminary survey was the
same except for the drawing of the evacuation places and
evacuation routes ((3) to (5) in Figure 2). Then, a total of
39 maps (26 from men, 13 from women), including the pre-
liminary survey maps, were used as the map analysis target
in this paper. Of these maps, it was possible to perform a
cross-comparison of detailed behavior on the day for 25
people who also responded to the behavioral questionnaire.
For the direction, an arrow pointing north was placed on the
drawings at the end per the Lynch22 method, and all of the
maps were rotated so that north faced up when conducting
the analysis.
2.2.4 Questionnaire survey regarding environmental cognition
To verify the trends in environmental cognition among resi-
dents, as shown in the sketch map survey, a multiple-choice
survey was conducted regarding the cognition of the partici-
pants in connection with the positional relationship between
the coastline and national highways and the positions of the
homes of the participants (referred to hereafter as the “cogni-
tion questionnaire”). The survey was distributed in person to
223 residents of the target district who visited the reception
for Mutual Aid Traffic Accident Insurance, conducted by the
town between July and August 2013. A total of 114 were
returned by mail (return rate: 51.1%).
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Figure 2. Procedure of the sketch map survey
In contrast to the surveys (1) to (3), although the location of
the home of each respondent could not be specified in this sur-
vey, they were asked about the residential district and groups to
which they belong, and it was possible to identify the district for
113 people and the rough location in the district for 66 people.
2.3 Frame of research
Below, evacuation behavior during the tsunami is divided into the
stage of “evacuation implementation,” in which people either
evacuate or do not evacuate, and the stage of “choice of evacua-
tion place/route,” which accompanies physical movement, and
the influence of environmental cognition is analyzed for each
stage. First, regarding evacuation implementation, disparities
over the positions of homes (terrain, hazard map flooding predic-
tions) are clarified, and an examination is conducted regarding
the influence of cognition in connection to elevation and distance
from the sea, as well as the influence of hazard map information
(Chapter 3). Next, regarding residents who actually evacuated,
the characteristics of specific evacuation places and evacuation
route choices are clarified, and an examination is conducted
regarding the influence of cognition on evacuation places, road
networks, and terrain (Chapter 4).
2.4 Plan of analysis
This study emphasizes clarifying the connection between the
actual state of residents’ evacuation behaviors and environmen-
tal cognition. This analysis requires a perspective in terms of
assessing whether or not the behavior of individuals is appro-
priate. In this study, an analysis was conducted with the fol-
lowing plans from the perspective of reducing damage among
residents to the extent possible.
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ISAGAWA AND OHNO
2.4.1 The decision to evacuate
The surveys implemented in this study were conducted by indi-
vidual districts, so some residents from outside the hazard map
flooding prediction limits are included, but flooding prediction
limits are only one criterion [Note 4], and the height of the tsu-
nami predicted for the town in the 2011 earthquake (10 m or
more) exceeded the estimate (8 m). Therefore, it was basically
preferable for residents of the target region to evacuate. It is
thought that the risk of encountering the tsunami increases as
evacuation implementation is delayed,23 so the most appropriate
action is to evacuate as quickly as possible after an earthquake.
2.4.2 The choice of evacuation place/route
To evacuate from a tsunami requires evacuating quickly to an
area outside the tsunami coverage area. At this time, because
there is the possibility that the tsunami will exceed hazard
map estimates, it is preferable to aim for an elevated area,
even if it is only slightly elevated. Additionally, an examina-
tion was conducted regarding the risk of encountering the tsu-
nami when choosing an evacuation route that “approaching the
sea,” “crossing a river,” and “a decrease in elevation.”
3. Influence of environmental cognition on evacuation
implementation
3.1 Differences in evacuation implementation due to terrain
From the results of the behavioral questionnaire, the behav-
ior of residents who were at home in the event of the 2011
earthquake (except for apartment building residents) until
evening was categorized into “evacuated,” “moved but did
ISAGAWA AND OHNO wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3

not evacuate,” and “did not move.” By plotting the posi- 3.2 Differences in evacuation implementation according to haz-
tions of their homes, it was confirmed that there was a ard map information
trend not to evacuate further from the sea and to higher Figure 3 shows the “Onjuku tsunami hazard map”19 overlaid with
ground, as shown in Figure 3. Then, elevation (above sea the flooding prediction limit (“flooding area” hereafter). Because
level) and distance from the sea were each split into three the prediction of the tsunami for the town (10 m or more)
stages [Note 5], and the ratio of evacuation to movement
implementation was calculated, which produced what is
shown in Figure 4A and B. Based on this outcome, regard-
ing elevation, there was a clear trend for the ratio of evac-
uation (evacuation rate) to decrease as the altitude
increased. In contrast, regarding distance from the sea, the
evacuation rate of people less than 250 m from the coast-
line was conversely less than that of people from 250 to
499 m from the coastline. To further analyze this result,
which went against predictions, Table 2 was produced,
showing the evacuation rate according to nine different
groups combining elevation and distance from the sea.
Here, when confirming the residential positioning of
respondents with an elevation of 5 m or more and less than
250 m from the sea, a comparison of the surroundings as
shown in Figure 5 demonstrates that there are many
slightly elevated areas. This outcome shows that being rela-
tively higher than the surroundings reduces the awareness
of danger and inhibits evacuation.
Additionally, looking at Figure 6, which shows the number
of people arriving chronologically at evacuation places from
the time of the earthquake, the rate of increase differs accord-
ing to the elevation of the person’s home, and people whose
homes are located at an elevation of 5 m or more, in particu-
lar, were very few in number 30 minutes after the earthquake,
but then they greatly increased 15 minutes later. This finding
might show that the switch to a large-scale tsunami warning
approximately 30 minutes after the earthquake led to the deci-
sion to evacuate.9 However, there were no differences depend- Figure 4. Ratio of evacuation/movement implementation according
ing on distance from the sea. to terrain. (A) Elevation (B) Distance from the sea

Figure 3. Location of the residents and evacuation behavior (N = 249)

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Table 2. Evacuation rate by combining elevation and distance from the sea (N = 249)

Elevation Distance from the sea Number Evacuation number Evacuation rate (%)

Less than 5 m Less than 250 m 15 13 87

250 m or more but less than 500 m 25 20 80
500 m or more 15 7 47
5 m or more but less than 10 m Less than 250 m 34 17 50
250 m or more but less than 500 m 29 20 69
500 m or more 59 15 25
10 m or more Less than 250 m 7 2 29
250 m or more but less than 500 m 18 9 50
500 m or more 47 7 15

Figure 5. Location of the respondents with an elevation of 5 m or more and less than 250 m from the sea

Figure 6. The number of people arriving chronologically at evacuation places from the time of the earthquake according to the elevation of
their homes

exceeded the hazard map estimation (8 m), it might not even have
been safe outside the flooding area, but among the residents at
home, the proportion of evacuated residents was 55% in the flood-
ing area, while it was only 28% outside the flooding area.
Looking at Figure 7, which shows contact with the hazard
map prior to the earthquake and the connection to behavior on
the day, the proportion of people who evacuated who had seen
the hazard map in the flooding area was slightly greater than
those who had not seen it, whereas the proportion of evacuees
among those who had seen the hazard map from outside the
flooding area was smaller. Many people who had seen the haz-
ard map from outside the flooding area did not move, and their
lack of evacuation or movement might have been due to
knowing that they were outside the flooding area.
Furthermore, few people gave “because I was outside the
flooding area” as a reason for not evacuating, but as shown in
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Figure 8, 8 of 14 people lived within 100 m of the flooding
area, and the elevation of the homes of seven of these eight
was less than 5 m from the flooding area. Therefore, were the
tsunami to advance to the edge of the flooding area, that is, if
it were to slightly exceed estimations, there would be many
regions at high risk of flooding. The above results show that,
while the hazard map has some influence on evacuation behav-
ior, it facilitates a dichotomized understanding of being inside
or outside the flooding area, which might actually prevent
evacuation of the flooding area.
3.3 Influence of environmental cognition on evacuation imple-
mentation
Regarding those who stated the reason for not evacuating their
homes as being either “the elevation from sea level” or “the dis-
tance from the sea,” showing recognition of the terrain, the
ISAGAWA AND OHNO
positions of each of their homes are shown in Figure 9. This out-
come shows that, even when the elevation is less than 10 m, there
are several people who consider this elevation to be “high” when
they are 500 m or more from the sea. There was a concentration
of people in the Iwawada area, which is 10-12 m above sea level
(dotted area in Figure 9), who thought that the region was “high.”
The results of the interviews show that there are residents in this
area who refer to this region as being “elevated,” but that it is
slightly elevated compared to the surroundings has strengthened
Figure 7. Evacuation behavior according to whether people had
seen tsunami hazard maps
Figure 8. Position of residents who did not evacuate because “I was outside the flooding area”
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this cognition of it being “high.” In contrast, people who
responded “distance from the sea” mostly lived 500 m or more
from the coastline, but among those who could not see the sea,
even 300 m was thought to be “distant,” showing that there is a
difference between the environmental cognition of the residents
and the actual terrain.
Therefore, the cognition of the altitude (elevation cognition) of
each person’s home, based on the contour lines obtained in this
sketch map survey, was split into three categories: “Less than
5 m,” “5 m or more but less than 10 m,” and “10 m or more”;
and a comparison was drawn with the numerical elevation model
(5 m mesh), the results of which are shown in Table 3. While it is
thought that the cognition of some people was altered after exam-
ining the maps following the 2011 earthquake [Note 6], overall,
the cognition of most people was within the actual range or less.
In contrast, at least 4 of the 39 people believed it to be higher than
it actually is, and some people even believed an area with an ele-
vation of 2.7 m to be 10 m or more. In particular, all three people
who believed an area of less than 5 m in altitude to be higher than
it is lived in areas 250 m or more from the sea. Conversely, of the
five people who could not determine the cognitive elevation due
to insufficient contour lines, four of them lived 10 m or more
above sea level or 500 m or more from the sea.
Based on the above results, it is thought that the extent to which
residents have a common cognition of low elevation from sea
level or being close to the sea produces greater inhibitions than
the extent to which residents should be vigilant regarding tsunami
disasters (e.g., hazard map flooding areas). Therefore, in this
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Figure 9. Position of the residents who did not evacuate based on the terrain. (A) “At a high enough altitude” (N = 48), (B) “far enough from
the sea” (N = 32)

Table 3. Relationship between cognition of the altitude and the actual altitude (N = 39)

Cognition of the altitude

Less than 5 m 5 m or more but less than 10 m 10 m or more Cannot classify

Actual altitude Less than 5 m 10 2 1 1

5 m or more but less than 10 m 4 6 1 1
10 m or more 0 5 5 3
Shading indicates that he or she believes it to be higher than it actually is.

cognition questionnaire, when issuing an evacuation warning
using the four expressions shown in Figure 10, whether people
will be aware that it applies to their own home or not was con-
firmed. As a result, in contrast to the use of the expression “people
near the coast” which is often used when calling for evacuations
during tsunamis and which slightly less than 60% of people (most
of them living within an area approximately 300 m from the sea)
believe applies to themselves, the expression “people closer to the
sea than Onjuku Junior High School” will reach approximately
80% of people, including those inland. Additionally, while
approximately 60% of people believe that the expression “people
in the lowlands” applies to themselves, and many people who live
in areas further from the sea with an altitude of 10 m or less do
not believe that this expression applies to them, most people will
believe it applies to them if the expression “people in the regions
lower than the former Onjuku High School” is used. Of course,
regarding the decision to evacuate or not, there are various influ-
encing factors,9 and it is not the case that people evacuate as soon
as they are aware that the warning applies to themselves. How-
ever, by referring to areas that are well known in the region (i.e.,
landmarks [Note 7]), it is noteworthy that the applicability
response rate increases even in areas further away from the sea,
which had a low evacuation rate in the 2011 earthquake. That is,
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rather than referring to an obscure area, by providing a specific
target area, the persons concerned are more readily aware, so it is
possible to promote evacuation by arranging the details of disaster
prevention information.
4. Influence of environmental cognition on choice of
evacuation place and evacuation route
4.1 Influence of environmental cognition on choice of evacua-
tion place
4.1.1 Characteristics of choice of evacuation place
Regarding residents who evacuated their homes on the day of
the 2011 earthquake, arrows showing positional relationships
between their homes and the evacuation places to which the
residents directly escaped from the tsunami (referred to here-
after simply as “evacuation places”) are shown in Figure 11.
According to this figure, a minority (four people) evacuated to
Onjuku Junior High School, which is within the flooding area
and was not an evacuation place for the tsunami. The reason
for this choice (multiple responses) was stated as “there was a
safe route of evacuation” by three people and “it was a
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Figure 10. Expressions of evacuation warnings and cognition of whether it applied to them

designated evacuation place” by two people. From this out-
come, it is understood that some residents had a mistaken view
of the evacuation places. In contrast, in light of the town hav-
ing hills on the east and west, in general, many residents in
the west evacuated to Onjukudai (approximately 50 m eleva-
tion), and many residents in the east evacuated to the sand-ski
resort (also 50 m). Additionally, many central downtown resi-
dents evacuated to the Onjuku Town Hall (elevation of 35 m).
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Figure 11. Positional relationship between their homes and evacuation places (N = 113)
In this manner, the general trend was to evacuate to nearby
high ground, but the nearest area was not always chosen.
Looking at the sphere of evacuation of each evacuation
place, in all of the areas, the sphere extends toward the sea,
but there are differences, such as evacuation to the former Iwa-
wada Elementary School (elevation of 15 m), which covers
only nearby residents, whereas Onjukudai and the sand-ski
resort have large spheres.
4.1.2 Environmental cognition influences the choice of evacua-
tion place
Figure 12 shows the reasons for selecting one of the four main
evacuation places to which 5% or more of evacuees fled.
Looking at this figure, in each of Onjukudai, the sand-ski
resort and Onjuku Town Hall, most people selected “it is ele-
vated above sea level” as the reason, showing that people
emphasized elevation when evacuating. However, many people
also said that the former Iwawada Elementary School was “a
designated evacuation place,” which led to it being “the near-
est evacuation place.” In Onjukudai, many people said that “it
is an accessible area,” while others said that the Town Hall is
“an area I know well.” Evacuees to these two locations, as
shown in Figure 13, mostly used cars, while the former Iwa-
wada Elementary School was reached on foot by 60% of
Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 495
ISAGAWA AND OHNO
evacuees, so the choice of evacuation place has a considerable
connection to the choice of means of transport. Furthermore,
as shown in Figure 14, a large proportion of people who evac-
uated to the Town Hall had not decided on an evacuation
place in advance, compared to other evacuation places. In the
interviews, some said that “information would be easy to
obtain,” so the strength of normal awareness and the sense of
safety also had an influence. The Town Hall was not a desig-
nated evacuation place, but because many residents evacuated
there, it was specially opened as a temporary evacuation point,
showing a discrepancy between the cognition of the govern-
ment and that of residents.
Evacuation places drawn on the sketch maps are shown in
Figure 15. In this figure, the Town Hall and Onjukudai, which
were often written down, had large proportions of evacuees
who had not made a decision in advance during the 2011
earthquake, and this finding confirms a shared understanding
of evacuation places during tsunamis. In contrast, there were
some facilities not drawn at all despite being designated evacu-
ation places. Furthermore, there were some people who identi-
fied facilities that were actually refugee shelters during
earthquakes, etc., that were not to be used as tsunami evacua-
tion places (within the flooding area), so the cognition of resi-
dents regarding the evacuation place is not always correct, but
ISAGAWA AND OHNO
Figure 12. Reasons for selecting one of the four main evacuation places
Figure 13. Means of transport according to the main evacuation places
Figure 14. Relationship with the evacuation place that had been decided on
the results obtained here showed that it is difficult to predict
evacuee numbers only by physical aspects, such as distance.
Therefore, caution is required when designating evacuation
places and when planning the distribution of goods.
4.2 Influence of environmental cognition on choice of evacua-
tion route
On the Onjuku tsunami hazard map, directional markers for
evacuation directions are shown based on the principles of
avoiding coming close to the sea and avoiding crossing rivers.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3
However, in reality, many people chose routes that went
against these principles. Among these routes, there were some
that were unavoidable (e.g., being unable to evacuate without
crossing a rive), but a detailed analysis is conducted hereafter
regarding three highly dangerous route choices: “approaching
the sea,” “crossing a river,” and “decreasing in elevation”
(with some overlap between them). As has been pointed out
before regarding the frequency of pre-evacuation visits,9 for 68
respondents evacuated directly from their homes in whom the
influence of environmental cognition was particularly evident,
Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 496
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3
Figure 15. Illustrated elements drawn on the sketch maps (N = 39)
the study was performed only with regard to the route taken
until arriving at the first evacuation place (referred to hereafter
simply as the “evacuation route,” Figure 16).
4.2.1 Choice of route that approached the sea
A total of 25% of people evacuated along an area that drew
closer to the sea than their own homes (17 people), of whom
nine people came closer to the sea on a national highway
(refer to Figure 16). The reason for this route choice for seven
people emphasized “getting away from the sea,” so there
might be a difference between the cognition of residents
regarding positional relationships and actual spaces.
Among the sketch map respondents, one person evacuated
directly along a route that approached the sea. Figure 17
[Note 8] shows the evacuation route of this respondent S5
[Note 9] on an actual map and the sketch map. This respondent
also stated that the route “went away from the sea,” but actually,
the evacuation drew close to the sea along a service road on the
national highway. Looking at the sketch maps, one of the rea-
sons for coming close to the sea is distorted cognition in that the
national highway and the service road that actually cut across
the bay coastline have been drawn parallel to the coast.
Therefore, focusing on the positional relationship between
the coastline and the national highway, examining all 39 of the
maps, there are some “parallel types” drawn almost in parallel
and some “orthogonal types” drawn almost orthogonally, as
shown in Figure 18. Furthermore, among the former, there are
some in which it is drawn almost parallel in the north–south
direction, some drawn in the east–west direction and some that
are central, and such simplified maps comprise slightly more
than 40% of the total (17 maps).
Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 497
ISAGAWA AND OHNO
On the cognition questionnaire regarding the choice of the
correct form of the positional relationship between the coast
and the national highway from among five basic maps,
[Note 10] as shown in Figure 19, slightly more than 30% of
people chose the correct map, and it was confirmed that many
people living in the west side of the town recognized it as
being parallel (parallel or almost parallel) [Note 11]. From
this outcome, it is thought that the local positional relation-
ship around one’s home is easily recognized as expanding to
a larger area. There was only a small number of cases in
which the sketch maps obtained in this survey directly
matched the actual evacuation routes of those who drew the
sketch maps, so it is not clear how much influence such
incorrect cognition has on actual behavior, but the influence is
thought to be considerable based on past research regarding
route choices.16,24
4.2.2 Choice of routes that cross a river
In the target area, there are four rivers, and approximately 50%
(33 people) of people crossed these rivers. As shown in Fig-
ure 16, which shows the locations of those rivers, many people
crossed Shimizu River in particular, which runs through the
center of the town. Among the sketch map respondents, four
people crossed rivers when evacuating, including S7, who
crossed Shimizu River four times, as shown in Figure 17. How-
ever, on the sketch maps, the position of the river is wrong, and
the map was drawn in such a manner that the river was only
crossed twice. Additionally, S5 crossed Shimizu River once,
but on the map, the river (main line) position is incorrect, and
the road is missing near the bridge. Furthermore, the river
crossed by I3 was also drawn in part, and the point where the
ISAGAWA AND OHNO
Figure 16. Evacuation route of people evacuated directly from their homes (N = 68)
river was crossed is not shown. All of these cases show the
potential for crossing rivers without being aware of it.
Looking at the drawings of rivers on the sketch maps, as
shown in Table 4, in 12 cases, the rivers were only partially
drawn, and in six cases, the position was incorrect, showing
the difficulty of understanding the shapes and positions of riv-
ers. Additionally, there were seven cases in which the river
was not drawn at all.
Regarding Shimizu River, examining the number of maps in
which the six intersections between the river and roads are
correctly depicted (A-F bridges in Figure 16), there is a trend
for the intersections and positioning to be more incorrect as
they lie further from the sea. This outcome is in contrast to
many people in inland areas crossing the river (Figure 16), so
the unclear cognition of rivers might be one of the reason why
rivers were crossed so frequently during evacuation.
4.2.3 Choice of routes in which there is a decrease in elevation
Slightly less than 40% (25 people) of people chose a route
with a decrease in elevation along the way [Note 12]. The
change in elevation along these routes is shown in Figure 20
[Note 13]. Of these routes, 18 people said that they chose a
route that was at a “higher altitude.” Looking at Figure 17,
the S5 sketch map shows that the cognition of the majority
was of the town being at 5 m of elevation or above, which
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3
is higher than it actually is. In contrast, although I3 correctly
recognized the elevation of his own home, local areas that
are actually slightly elevated were depicted as being higher
further inland across a wide area. This respondent said, “I
didn’t feel like escaping” immediately after the tsunami
warning was sounded, but he did not fully understand that
areas with a decrease in elevation must be avoided when
evacuating.
Looking at Figure 15, from the depiction of contours on
the sketch maps, it is understood that there were some resi-
dents who had excessive cognition of the elevation of the
town as a whole. Additionally, contours were not often
depicted in areas that decrease in elevation inland, and it is
thought that this lack of depiction is the effect of a predic-
tive schema in which “areas further from the sea are higher
in elevation.”
Based on the follow-up questionnaire, using the data over-
lapped on Figure 16, while it cannot be correctly specified
when each respondent passed each point, Figure 21 shows the
accumulation ratio for each type of route choice by the time at
which the people first arrived at the evacuation place. Only
half of the people arrived at the evacuation place before the
first wave of the tsunami struck, so many people evacuated
during a time period in which there was a risk of being caught
by the tsunami.
Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 498
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3 ISAGAWA AND OHNO

Figure 17. Examples of improper evacuation routes with a “distorted” cognitive map

As mentioned above, even among residents who were
directly evacuated from their homes and who should have
had the fewest problems, many of them chose dangerous
routes, which is connected to poor cognition regarding the
position and shape of rivers, incorrect positional
Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 499
relationships between the coastline and major roads and an
overestimated cognition of elevation, as shown on the sketch
maps. These environmental cognition trends were seen
among many residents, which led to dangerous behavior
when evacuating.
ISAGAWA AND OHNO wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3

Figure 18. Types and examples of positional relationships between the coastline and the national highway extracted from the sketch maps.

Figure 19. Results of the cognition questionnaire regarding the positional relationship between the coastline and the national highway

5. Conclusion
In this study, an analysis was conducted with a focus on the
environmental cognition of residents with regard to evacuation
behavior during a tsunami. Based on the following main
results, a proposal is offered for tsunami evacuation counter-
measures in the future. Currently, the details are based on the
survey in one region only, but they can be extended to other
regions.
Evacuation in the event of tsunami greatly differs according
to the position of one’s home, and the higher that the elevation
is, the more residents there are that fail to evacuate. In areas
further from the sea and areas slightly higher than the
surroundings, many residents failed to evacuate. In these areas,
there was some discrepancy between the cognition of residents
regarding the terrain and the actual spaces, such as the eleva-
tion being perceived to be high. Regarding hazard maps, the
evacuation rate differed in areas inside or outside the flooding
area, showing that looking at hazard maps might actually inhi-
bit evacuation outside flooding areas.
The reasons for choosing evacuation places differed in each
place, influenced by regular awareness of the location, the
sense of safety, the use of automobiles, etc., in addition to the
height and closeness and whether the location was a desig-
nated evacuation place. Furthermore, even among residents
Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 500
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3 ISAGAWA AND OHNO

Table 4. Drawings of rivers on the sketch maps (N = 39) thought to be “high,” although they are not actually suffi-
Personal Classification Number ciently elevated (areas further from the sea and areas higher
Almost correct 12 than their surroundings, etc.). In regions not easily understood
Only partially drawna) 12 as being close to the sea or to rivers (e.g., areas where the sea
Position was incorrecta) 6 and rivers are not visible), there is a place to consider indicat-
The river was not drawn at all 7 ing distance and making river crossings easy to understand
Cannot classify 4 visually (e.g., changing the pavements on bridges). Further-
more, it is necessary to clarify nearby evacuation places and
By location Place Number evacuation directions for each place and to promote correct
Bridge A 16 evacuation behavior. Regarding hazard maps, it is also neces-
Bridge B 18 sary to use flexible expressions so that people recognize the
Bridge C 12 need to evacuate, to make the regional terrain and shape of
Bridge D 2 roads easy to understand so that the correct area and route are
Bridge E 10 chosen, and to inform people that flooding areas are no more
Bridge F 8 than rough estimates [Note 14].
Two maps were counted in both categories marked with a). The name According to the sketch map survey implemented in this
of the place corresponds to Figure 16. paper, it was understood how coast region residents recognized
the nearby environment. This information can be used as refer-
ence data to gain advanced awareness of the typical trends in
who evacuated directly from their homes, there were many cognition that can lead to dangerous behavior and, rather than
who chose highly dangerous evacuation routes, such as routes prevention, to undertake specific evacuation countermeasures
closer to the sea and ones that crossed rivers or dropped in ele- so that people select evacuation places that are well known in
vation. This finding demonstrated a connection with incorrect the area, and emergency supplies can be distributed based on
and unclear cognition regarding the shape and elevation of prediction of the number of people according to actual evacua-
roads and rivers. tion trends.
Based on the results of this study, the establishment of dis- Furthermore, after the survey of sketch maps that were
plays that correctly inform people about elevation is consid- drawn, compared with actual maps, some respondents said, “I
ered to be an effective evacuation countermeasure. In didn’t realize the elevation was so low,” and “it was interest-
particular, such displays must be established in regions often ing to learn that I had never looked at the map with this kind

Figure 20. Evacuation routes in which there is a decrease in elevation (N = 25). Parts that fall are indicated by bold lines (within 1 km of home,
parts with altitudes of 20 m or less are printed)

Figure 21. The number of people arriving chronologically at evacuation places from the time of the earthquake according to the type of route
choice

Jpn Archit Rev | October 2018 | vol. 1 | no. 4 | 501

ISAGAWA AND OHNO
of awareness,” etc. The physical task of drawing a sketch map
for oneself is thought to lead to a reconfirmation of regional
environments of which one is unaware, which should be con-
sidered as an effective risk communication tool in the future.
Acknowledgments
The authors are deeply grateful to everyone in the general affairs office
at the town of Onjuku who cooperated greatly in the provision of mate-
rials and the implementation of the surveys and to all of the district offi-
cers and the survey respondents. Implementation of the behavioral
questionnaire and GIS data production was conducted together with
Associate Professor Osamu Murao of the Faculty of Engineering, Infor-
mation and Systems, University of Tsukuba (now International Research
Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University), and Takuro Kawasaki,
a graduate student at the same university. This study was conducted
with support from the Center for Urban Earthquake Engineering, Tokyo
Institute of Technology (CUEE), and from JSPS grant 23/8599 and
23360265. The authors would like to express their appreciation.
Disclosure
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Notes
Note 1) The term “tsunami hazard map” refers more broadly to a vari-
ety of information (general knowledge regarding tsunamis, etc.) pub-
lished alongside tsunami flooding prediction maps, but it is defined
here as information stated on a map. This information includes regio-
nal information regarding flooding predictions and elementary informa-
tion, such as evacuation places and routes. If too much information is
included on a map, it can actually become difficult to understand, so it
is effective to split flooding prediction maps and disaster prevention
maps for individual districts, for example.
Note 2) Isagawa and Ohno9 detailed the process in the town on the
day of the earthquake.
Note 3) The same survey was reported in Isagawa and Ohno9 as
“2011 Survey.”
Note 4) The Onjuku tsunami hazard map warns that “regions not col-
ored in might also be at risk of flooding depending on the earthquake
position and scale and the terrain.”
Note 5) Regarding “elevation (above sea level),” based on basic map
information published by the Geographical Survey Institute (numerical
elevation model with 5 m mesh), height is calculated using GIS, and
“distance from the sea” is calculated by measuring the distance in a
straight line from home to the nearest coast.
Note 6) According to the behavioral questionnaire, approximately
20% of people saw the hazard map for the first time after the earth-
quake. However, the issue is that the cognition of some residents dif-
fered from the reality beforehand.
Note 7) “Onjuku Junior High School” and “the former Onjuku High
School” were selected in light of the frequency of their being indicated
on sketch maps (mentioned later) and their geographic positioning.
Note 8) The maps obtained are difficult to see when published in this
paper, so the author has faithfully traced the corresponding elements
drawn.
Note 9) From here forward, the letters applied to the sketch maps
show the residential districts as specified below: H: Hama; S: Suka; K:
Kubo; C: Shinmachi; R: Rokkenmachi; I: Iwawada.
Note 10) Terms such as “parallel” and “accurate” as used here appear
only in the context of providing an explanation in this paper, and they
were not stated on the survey slip.
Note 11) From the results of the sketch map survey, while it was pre-
dicted that there would be many “orthogonal types” (orthogonal or
almost orthogonal) among residents of the east coast, this prediction
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jar3
was not actually the result. Because the shape of the bay was correct
in all of the options prepared for the cognition questionnaire, it is
thought that it was easier to select “Accurate” or “Almost parallel”
regarding the idea that tangents from the eastern coast were orthogonal
to the national highway.
Note 12) Along the GIS evacuation routes, the altitude every 20 m is
shown, and locations where the altitude is 2 m or lower than the per-
son’s home are “routes that decrease in elevation.”
Note 13) Among the 25 people who decrease in elevation en route,
two people chose areas lower than their own homes as evacuation
places. However, even among those who evacuated to areas higher
than their own homes, seven people choose areas less than 5 m higher
than their own homes. Additionally, when considering the time of arri-
val at the evacuation place (Figure 20), not a few people ran the risk
of encountering the tsunami while evacuating, so it can be said that
the behavior was not appropriate.
Note 14) In Onjuku, the tsunami hazard map was revised in March
2013: contours and rivers were more strongly emphasized than before,
and a wider flooding area was colored in that included a buffer zone.
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How to cite this article: Isagawa T, Ohno R. Influence
of residents’ cognition of their local environment on
evacuation behavior from tsunamis: A case study of
Onjuku, Chiba prefecture. Jpn Archit Rev. 2018;1:486–
503. https://doi.org/10.1002/2475-8876.12045