Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2023

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O (Public ) » Public

[O-04] 100 Years after the Great Kanto Earthquake. Can Social Evolution Sur vive the Next Disaster?

Sun. May 21, 2023 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM Exhibition Hall Special Setting (2) (Exhibition Hall 8, Makuhari Messe)

convener:Yukiko TAKEUCHI(Kumamoto University), Akira Wada(Tokyo Institute of Technology), Yoshinori MIYACHI(Geological Survey of Japan, AIST), Yukihiro Takahashi(Department of Cosmosciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University), Chairperson:Akira Wada(Tokyo Institute of Technology), Yukiko TAKEUCHI(Kumamoto University)

2:45 PM - 3:10 PM

[O04-03] Information and Rumors in the Great Kanto Earthquake disaster

★Invited Papers

*Hiromichi Nakamori1 (1.NIHON University)

Keywords:The Great Kanto Earthquake disaster , information, rumor

The Great Kanto Earthquake disaster severely damaged the telecommunications network, including the telegraph and telephone lines, and the mass media, including the newspapers, which had played the role of disseminating information to the general public in a timely manner, were unable to fully perform their expected functions due to major problems in gathering information and publishing newspapers. In such a situation, various rumors spread in and out of the disaster area. The so-called "Korean rumors" were spread by the victims and injured people. As mentioned earlier, the Great Kanto Earthquake disaster paralyzed information and communication networks, making smooth information exchange impossible. It is often said that such a situation increased the confusion caused by the spread of rumors, with some suggesting that such confusion could have been prevented if radio broadcasting had started at the time of the earthquake. However, immediately after the Great Kanto Earthquake disaster, some means of exchanging information remained available. Examples include wireless stations in Funabashi and Manazuru, ships at the port of Yokohama and elsewhere, and some telegraph lines, including those used by the police and railroads. These means were used to exchange information and conveyed the rumors that had been spreading in the affected areas throughout the country. These rumors were then published on the front pages of newspapers across the country with little or no way to confirm their authenticity. In other words, the newspapers played a role in spreading and reinforcing the rumors. If radio broadcasting had been in operation at the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake, it would have been difficult to confirm the authenticity of the rumors, as was the case with newspapers, so radio stations would have broadcast the rumors as they were. In other words, if radio had been available, the spread of the rumors would have been faster and the confusion would have been greater.