Vulnerability of Pregnant Women after a Disaster: Experiences after the Kumamoto Earthquake in Japan

Abstract

The Kumamoto earthquake that struck Japan in 2016 left 50 people dead and 2,804 injured, and led to the evacuation of 183,882. The Kumamoto earthquake actually involved two big earthquakes, the second being larger than the first, causing damage to many buildings and a fear of aftershocks, which led residents to want to stay at evacuation centers. Numerous medical assistance teams, such as disaster medical assistance teams (DMATs), came from all parts of Japan and were coordinated by local health authorities, including the health center in AsoCity. Humanitarian Medical Assistance (HuMA; Tokyo, Japan) is a medical, nongovernmental organization in Japan. The HuMA organization supported theAso Health Center in managing the large number of assistance teams and starting a health cluster meeting.