Two years after the “Hokkaido Earthquake” Half of the victims “Effect of physical and mental health continues” September 4, 1:25

As a result of conducting a questionnaire survey of the victims living in the three towns where the NHK was severely damaged, two years ago, six days after the earthquake with the maximum seismic intensity of 7 was observed in Hokkaido, it is still affecting the mind and body. In addition to half of the respondents saying that they are continuing, it became clear that many people are worried about the weathering of their memories.

In July, NHK will live in temporary housing in Atsuma, Abira, and Mukawa towns in Hokkaido, which were severely damaged by the earthquake two years ago, in collaboration with Tohoku University's assistant professor Yuki Sadaike, who assists the reconstruction of the disaster area. We conducted a questionnaire by interviewing victims and 133 households, and received responses from 92 households (about 70%).



Among them, as early as the end of October, when I asked about the prospect of living after moving out of temporary housing,


87% were


"standing" and 13% were "not standing" did.



However, when asked whether the time for the deadline to the person who answered, "outlook is standing", who are aiming to rebuild on their own such as a home of new construction and repair


while the "in time" was 59 percent,


"in time 23% and


“I don't know” were 14%, and


it was found that nearly 40% of them may not be able to complete reconstruction by the deadline.



The reasons for this were that they were unable to find funding or suitable housing areas, and they were asked to extend the deadline for temporary housing and request financial assistance.

Impact on the mind and body 54% of respondents are "continuing"

I asked about the physical and mental effects of the earthquake.


“Continued” was the highest with 54%,


“Disappeared within about one year” was 15%,


“Disappeared within about half a year” and “No effect” were 11% each, more than half of them still affected It turns out that continues.



When asked about the specific symptoms by multiple answers to people who continue to have an impact,


50%

said they

could not sleep well,


24% said they were “going out


”, 22% said they were “motivated to

go out


”, and increased their chronic illness. 20%, etc.



Asked about the frequency of interaction with neighbors and friends over the past year,


4% were


“increased”, 1% were “slightly increased


”, 53% were “no change


”, and 15% were “slightly decreased”. ,


"Reduced" was 25%, and


40% of people felt that they felt that they had decreased.



When asked why multiple answers


were given, 54% were “impact of the new coronavirus


”, 30% were “there were fewer visitors


”, and 24% were “there were fewer exchange events”.



In addition, about 20% of the respondents answered "I did not give greetings" about the year's exchange, and about 70% of the participants answered "I did little" to participate in the exchange event. It was.

The memory of the earthquake “diminished” in 60%

I asked about the memory of the earthquake.


16% of respondents said that their own memory was weakened, and


30% felt that

their memory was weakened

.



On the other hand, when asked if they feel that their memory is weakened outside the disaster area, 25% of


respondents “I think so”, 35% of


“I agree”, 20% of “Neither”, and


“I don't think so much” 15% of

respondents said


“I don't think” was 4%, and


60% of them felt that they had faded.



Also, 74% said they needed to convey the memory of the earthquake.

“Need support from many directions in the long term”

Assistant Professor Keiike said, "I think that the physical and psychological impacts are due to various factors such as the fear of the earthquake itself, anxiety about rebuilding the living environment, and the stress of living in a temporary housing. We need a mechanism."


After that, he often hears that it is difficult to forget in the disaster-stricken areas. Just learning about the difficulties of living in an evacuation center and the lessons of temporary housing will help prepare for the next disaster." I am.