People with disabilities account for over 20% of 2010s Japan disaster-linked deaths

From Kyodo via The Japan Times

February 11 2024

SENDAI – People with disabilities accounted for more than 20% of deaths caused by physical and mental strain following major earthquakes in the 2010s in Japan, a recent Kyodo News study showed.

The survey of local governments showed 21% of deaths linked to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan involved people with disability certificates, while the comparable figure from the 2016 quakes in Kumamoto Prefecture, stood at 28%.

The figures are particularly high when compared with the proportion of disabled people in the population, which the central government estimates at 9%.

In areas hit by the magnitude-7.6 quake last month in the Noto Peninsula, only 20% of shelters capable of accepting disabled and elderly people were able to open, another Kyodo News survey showed.

The survey of seven local governments in Ishikawa Prefecture, conducted last month, showed many shelters were unable to accept evacuees due to damage, disruption of water supplies or a lack of human resources as staff were also affected by the quake.

The survey on disaster-related deaths in the massive 2011 quake and four other natural disasters for which the state granted special administrative assistance for victims covered 149 local governments in 16 prefectures.

In the survey held from November to December last year, a total of 98 local governments reported disaster-related deaths involving people with disability certificates.

Regarding the 2011 quake, 497 of the 2,419 people who died in those municipalities possessed disability certificates, while in the Kumamoto quakes, 52 of the 186 who died held such certificates, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, the proportion of deaths involving disability certificate holders was lower in other disasters, standing at over 8% in the torrential rain in western Japan in 2018 and more than 7% in the 2019 typhoon that affected large swaths of the country.

In torrential rain in western Japan in 2020, the two people who died did not possess disability certificates.

Over 80% of the victims with disability certificates were aged 65 years or older, while more than 90% possessed physical disability certificates.

Asked about the challenges in providing assistance to people with disabilities, 60% of the local governments that reported disaster-related deaths cited a lack of staff able to visit people in their homes, while 30% said they had no means to confirm the safety of people requiring support.

Katsunori Fujii, leader of the nonprofit organization Japan Council on Disability, called on the central government to conduct detailed analysis and implement measures to support people with disabilities as there are many who do not possess certificates.

“People with disabilities are said to face twice the risk of direct death by tsunami or collapsed homes,” Fujii said. “The outcome of the latest survey is serious” as it also showed a disproportionate number of disaster-linked deaths across the country.