Older Persons in Emergency Situations: A case study of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

Many of those affected by earthquakes and other recent disasters from natural hazards have been older people.
As society continues to age, whether we like it or not, we will need policies to cope with the needs and capacities of older people, disabled people, and others who need support in a disaster, in order to reduce the number of victims among those who are vulnerable in the case of a disaster. In the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (1995), approximately half of the 5,488 people who died as a direct result of the earthquake were elderly people.
Nakatsuji et al. claimed that this was the first “aged society earthquake” in the world. This case study report reflects on the situation of elderly victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake through the perspective of the disaster cycle, and summarizes measures perceived to be necessary for the future.