| Research Abstract |
We, first, collected two types of disaster data, namely : (1) Response and reconstruction for the period from emergency to reconstruction phase ; (2) International assistance in past earthquake disasters. Response and reconstruction data were collected from the 1972 Nicaragua, Managua earthquake, the 1976 Tangshan, China earthquake, and the 1992 Erzincan, Turkey earthquake. Assistance data were collected from the 1988 Spitak, Armenia earthquake, the 1992 Erzincan, Turkey earthquake, and 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake.
We, then, analyzed the collected data to find ways for the improvement of international assistance in a disaster.
We derived a generic idea for the progress of post-disaster activities in a affected area, ranging from emergency response to long-term rehabilitation, so that we were able to broadly identify possible needs for international assistance. In some disasters, affected areas needed a period of 10 to 20 years to complete their rebuilding of dwellings, infrastructures, and public facilities. Donating countries may find their opportunities in the assistance of long-term recovery.
On the other hand, we examined the actual state of international assistance on the basis of the collected data. Countries involved in assisting activities, types of assistance (in terms of : human, material, or financial support), and the relationship between the offer of assistance and its acceptance were investigated. Several tendencies, such as the fact that receiving countries prefer to accept financial support, while many donating countries proposed human resources, were found out.
We, finally, discussed possible relationship between "long-term disaster assistance" and assistance for regional development. Development assistance for an affected area may be an acceptable form of disaster assistance, in which donating countries can find many opportunities and receiving countries can acceptably handle the need.
|
