Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal Cities

Abstract Estimating potential casualties from a significant earthquake and tsunami event is crucial to enhance disaster preparedness and response. Although various approaches exist to assess potential casualties, few studies have made direct comparisons between them. The present study aimed to clari...

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Main Authors: Tomoyuki Takabatake, Nanami Hasegawa, Keita Yamaguchi, Miguel Esteban
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-10-01
Series:International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-024-00586-2
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author Tomoyuki Takabatake
Nanami Hasegawa
Keita Yamaguchi
Miguel Esteban
author_facet Tomoyuki Takabatake
Nanami Hasegawa
Keita Yamaguchi
Miguel Esteban
author_sort Tomoyuki Takabatake
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Estimating potential casualties from a significant earthquake and tsunami event is crucial to enhance disaster preparedness and response. Although various approaches exist to assess potential casualties, few studies have made direct comparisons between them. The present study aimed to clarify the differences in the estimation of casualties between an agent-based model (ABM), which can capture detailed evacuation behavior but demands significant computational resources, and a simplified approach at less computational cost by assuming that evacuees would move along a straight line from their initial location to the closest evacuation destination. These different approaches were applied to three coastal cities in Japan—Mihama, Kushimoto, and Shingu in Wakayama Prefecture—revealing significant differences in the estimated results between the ABM and the simplified approach. Notably, when the effects of building collapse due to an earthquake were considered, the mortality rates estimated by the ABM were higher than those estimated by the simplified approach in the three cities. There were also significant differences in the spatial distribution of the estimated mortality rates between the ABM and the simplified approach. The findings suggest that while the simplified approach can yield results more quickly, casualty estimates derived from such models should be interpreted with caution.
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institution OA Journals
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publishDate 2024-10-01
publisher SpringerOpen
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series International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
spelling doaj-art-12a8608ccf91452fa9ad45cd3bedac892025-08-20T02:22:28ZengSpringerOpenInternational Journal of Disaster Risk Science2095-00552192-63952024-10-0115571973710.1007/s13753-024-00586-2Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal CitiesTomoyuki Takabatake0Nanami Hasegawa1Keita Yamaguchi2Miguel Esteban3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kindai UniversityDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kindai UniversityDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kindai UniversityDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda UniversityAbstract Estimating potential casualties from a significant earthquake and tsunami event is crucial to enhance disaster preparedness and response. Although various approaches exist to assess potential casualties, few studies have made direct comparisons between them. The present study aimed to clarify the differences in the estimation of casualties between an agent-based model (ABM), which can capture detailed evacuation behavior but demands significant computational resources, and a simplified approach at less computational cost by assuming that evacuees would move along a straight line from their initial location to the closest evacuation destination. These different approaches were applied to three coastal cities in Japan—Mihama, Kushimoto, and Shingu in Wakayama Prefecture—revealing significant differences in the estimated results between the ABM and the simplified approach. Notably, when the effects of building collapse due to an earthquake were considered, the mortality rates estimated by the ABM were higher than those estimated by the simplified approach in the three cities. There were also significant differences in the spatial distribution of the estimated mortality rates between the ABM and the simplified approach. The findings suggest that while the simplified approach can yield results more quickly, casualty estimates derived from such models should be interpreted with caution.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-024-00586-2Agent-based modelingBuilding collapseCasualty estimationEvacuationJapan, Tsunami
spellingShingle Tomoyuki Takabatake
Nanami Hasegawa
Keita Yamaguchi
Miguel Esteban
Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal Cities
International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Agent-based modeling
Building collapse
Casualty estimation
Evacuation
Japan, Tsunami
title Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal Cities
title_full Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal Cities
title_fullStr Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal Cities
title_full_unstemmed Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal Cities
title_short Comparative Analysis of Tsunami Casualty Estimation Approaches: Agent-Based Modeling versus Simplified Approach in Japanese Coastal Cities
title_sort comparative analysis of tsunami casualty estimation approaches agent based modeling versus simplified approach in japanese coastal cities
topic Agent-based modeling
Building collapse
Casualty estimation
Evacuation
Japan, Tsunami
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-024-00586-2
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AT nanamihasegawa comparativeanalysisoftsunamicasualtyestimationapproachesagentbasedmodelingversussimplifiedapproachinjapanesecoastalcities
AT keitayamaguchi comparativeanalysisoftsunamicasualtyestimationapproachesagentbasedmodelingversussimplifiedapproachinjapanesecoastalcities
AT miguelesteban comparativeanalysisoftsunamicasualtyestimationapproachesagentbasedmodelingversussimplifiedapproachinjapanesecoastalcities