Factors contributing to disaster evacuation: The case of South Korea

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in effective evacuation in response to natural disasters, particularly in understanding human evacuation behavior. It is important to determine the factors affecting evacuation decision making to promote prompt evacuation. This study focuses on the effects of past experiences on evacuation behavior in South Korea, especially the evacuation drill experience. Additionally, the influence of demographic and socio-economic characteristics on evacuation behavior is considered. After collecting data through telephone surveys, t-tests and logit regression models were used to evaluate the data. The results reveal that an evacuation drill experience is positively related to making a decision to evacuate. The results also confirm that certain demographic factors, such as age and household size, as well as socio-economic factors, such as household income and housing type, influence evacuation decisions. Besides these, knowing the location of a shelter is another factor that improves the chances of evacuation. Finally, discussions and suggestions for increasing participation in evacuation drills are provided.