Tsunami Early Alert and Evacuation Support System for Fishery Workers by Mobile Phones

An Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004 - which killed about 230,000 people in 11 countries - is the worst on record. An earthquake and a following tsunami killed more than 180 people on Samoa, American Samoa and nearby islands on Sept. 2009. In Japan, earthquakes are expected to occur with high probability at the seismic center near the pacific coast of Japan archipelago, especially somewhere in the oceanic trench of the southern Sanriku region. For that reason, some kind of enforcement of comprehensive anti-tsunami measures is expected to take place as soon as possible for the people of the Sanriku region across Iwate and Miyagi prefectures. Regarding the disaster information service "Area Mail" that NTT DoCoMo provides, it is possible to deliver information simultaneously for afflicted limited areas unlike traditional mobile e-mail system. It is thought that the Area Mail can be used to notify not only to inhabitants but also to the tourists at the time of the disaster. Furthermore, because Area Mail covers the main fishery region in the coast, service to fishery workers is possible while they operate along the coast. They can avoid tsunami damage even in very early stages of an event. In this study, we built a prototype and carried out an experiment at one of the fisheries cooperatives in Miyako city to evaluate and assess the feasibility of the system.