Proposing a special evacuation mode after a large-scale earthquake in an aged society

This study presents a regional evacuation and shelter assessment method tailored to the needs of an aged society in the aftermath of a large-scale earthquake. Building upon previous research, the model incorporates factors such as shelter safety and capacity, evacuation time and distance, accessibility, the proportion of individuals with access and functional needs, housing structures, and varying walking speeds across different household types. Using Taiwan's national earthquake scenario, two evacuation modes were compared: (1) the standard evacuation mode, where each household evacuates to the nearest available shelter, and (2) the special evacuation mode, which prioritizes shelters that can be reached more quickly, thus accommodating households with individuals having access and functional needs. Our case study demonstrated that the special evacuation mode outperformed the standard evacuation mode in several aspects, including reduced overcrowding along evacuation routes and in shelters due to diversion, and fewer individuals with access and functional needs needing to travel long distances to reach shelter.