Geographic information for disaster prevention for creating hazard maps
Since the 1995 great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, Japan has been plagued by several natural disasters, including eruptions, torrential rains and more earthquakes, which all have emphasized the need to compile hazard maps as a part of disaster prevention measures. Information needed for this purpose include soil structure, characteristics of the bedrock, past disaster history, location of shelters and evacuation routes, and allow to reduce the amount of damage caused by natural disasters by depicting areas where damage would be likely to occur and to plan interventions needed before and after catastrophic events.