Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108597

Kaori Kurihara, Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Fullerton, P.O.Box 84080, Fullerton, CA 92834-9480, 562-243-5911, kaorikurihara@yahoo.co.jp

The elderly age of 65 and over has more than tripled over the past half-century to a record high of 420 million, worldwide. In the US, the percentage of elderly is 13%, while in Japan it is 19%. This demographic shift has an impact on many social aspects including the disaster prevention and response. Due to the rapid growth of elderly proportion and their vulnerability to disasters, victims of large scale disasters are mostly comprised of elderly people. The purpose of this study was to examine how the earthquake in Niigata, Japan, affected the elderly and vulnerable population of Niigata which is comprised of high elderly proportion (29%). Various data sources were used to obtain information. The sources included the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Japan's Meteorological Agency and local governments' sources. As of November 10, 2004, the number of death toll in the Niigata earthquake stands at 40, of which, 22 of them, or 54%, are elderly age 65 and over. Of the 22, 6 people were killed from direct cause and 16 died later due to the post disaster related complications. These complications include heart attacks, stroke and acute stress disorder. Findings indicate that there are large numbers of elderly and vulnerable individuals suffering from mental and physical affects from the earthquake. This finding will be used for evaluation of emergency management system for the future disaster in high density areas of elderly individuals.

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