Communications for disaster preparedness: A case study on four survivors from the great northeast Japan earthquake and tsunami

A primary challenge in responding to both natural and man-made disasters is communication. The aim of this study is to investigate the forms of communications that played a critical role in disaster preparedness during the great northeast Japan tsunami. This study used a case study research method and included four informants following a purposive sampling technique. Data was collected by means of un-structured in-depth interviews. The findings of this study suggest that communication in all forms played a vital role in disaster preparedness and soon after it occurred. In survivors’ view, however, the impact of broadcast media in its ability to establish a situational awareness and disaster management was limited. On the other hand, local efforts of disaster management by the ‘on call’ or ‘emergency’ personnel and emergency trucks with sound communication system, were viewed by survivors as effective in transmitting non-ambiguous and specific messages in a demanding tsunami’s context. One of the contributions of this study includes the type of messages and media that could play a vital role during a natural disaster period, and how the ‘lessons learnt’ can be implemented in various contexts and disaster prone areas.