What can we do when the lifelines that we felt secure in knowing would always be available are suddenly lost - when that happens?

On January 1, 2024, a massive earthquake that caused extensive damage transformed the lives of people living in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture. The impact on lifelines was also devastating, cutting off water and power, and making travel difficult. Cell phone base stations and fiber optic lines were also damaged, and in many places "communication" was not possible.

In such circumstances, "Noto Peninsula Earthquake Connect Map" was released. People in the affected areas themselves registered "places with Internet access" to visualize locations with Internet access. Currently, it is not possible to register new locations, but the information will be made public as open data and is expected to be used for situation analysis and other purposes.

The Noto Peninsula Earthquake Connect Map was created by a civic tech organization called Code for Kanazawa.

This service was released on January 7, six days after the disaster, and immediately after its release, a large number of "connected information" was registered, which greatly helped people.

能登半島地震コネクトマップ
https://noto-earthquake-conmap.glide.page/dl/74c4fe

In this interview, we spoke with Kenichiro Fukushima, representative director of Code for Kanazawa, a general incorporated association that led the development of the "Noto Peninsula Earthquake Connect Map" and provided it.

Kenichiro Fukushima, who serves as Representative Director

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The impetus for his activities was a desire to help

Q. First of all, please tell us what kind of organization Code for Kanazawa is.

--Ms. Fukushima: Code for Kanazawa is a civic tech community established in May 2013. The organization started its activities with the aim of solving and improving our own local and social issues by using IT and other means. Usually, We are working on various issues by launching projects, such as "5374 (Gomi-nashi).jp," an app that shows garbage disposal days at a glance.

Image citation: 5374 Official Website
http://5374.jp/

The start of the Connect Map development was after the earthquake

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Q. The "Noto Peninsula Earthquake Connect Map" was released very quickly. Did you have the idea of such a mapping of possible communication points by citizens before?

--Mr. Fukushima: No, there was not. That map was conceived by a team that was formed after the earthquake.

Q. Is that so?

--Ms. Fukushima: We were also victims of the disaster, so we each had things to do first. For a few days, we were all struggling with what was in front of us. So we each had our own things to do first. We were talking about "doing something we can do", but at that point we hadn't decided what we were going to do.

The difficulty of receiving and sending information

Q. I think it is wonderful that you are doing this, even though you yourself must not be able to afford it.

--Mr. Fukushima: After the disaster, we lacked just about everything. By everything, I don't mean just "things". In fact, with the support we received, you could say that we were able to obtain the minimum amount of "things". However, I really felt that getting "information" is very difficult.

Q. So you felt it was even harder to obtain than things.

--Mr. Fukushima: After the earthquake, everything was in a situation where "no one knew the details". Information was transmitted only in a kind of primitive relay, where people who saw and heard information would verbally ask for it, and then the leaders of the evacuation centers would disseminate it.

Q. I heard that many lifelines were cut off and the situation was very difficult.

--Mr. Fukushima: Yes. In such a difficult situation, there is a clear difference between having information and not having information, and that makes a difference in how to help and how to save people. Who is still there, where are they? There are many kinds of information, but we cannot get it freely. I realized that this time.

Q. You said you need communication to get information.

--Mr. Fukushima: Yes, we did. Television has been shown, but there is no detailed information, and we can't actively take the information we want. It was inconvenient that no one had a way to gather information and convey it. And, at that time, the communication environment was unstable, with some places being connected immediately after the disaster, but gradually becoming disconnected, and others becoming connected before we knew it. I felt it would be very useful to know "where is the Internet connection right now".

After a speedy release, received a lot of support.

Q. I heard a rumor that you built it in a few hours.

--Mr. Fukushima: The actual official release was on the 7th, so yes, I think a few hours is the time from when we started making it to when it was completed. Anyway, we had no place to go, so on the 6th, I met and talked with the members in the lobby of the Ishikawa Prefectural Office. There, I told them my thoughts about the information I mentioned earlier and showed them the prototype. I told them that in this day and age, the inability to transmit and receive information is quite difficult and can be fatal. Everyone agreed with me and said, "Well, let's make one that can tell where it is connected". The time it took to bring the idea to fruition certainly didn't take long. We prioritized speed and used a no-code tool, so we will continue to improve on the details that we wish we could have done better.

Q. I thought it was very practical and an interesting idea to visualize the connected places in real time by many people. This kind of service is not used unless people know about it, but is there anything you have done to spread the word?

--Mr. Fukushima: I think it was good that there was a flow of people who were willing to make it even better without us asking them to do so. For example, there were people who took videos of the actual use of this Connect Map and shared them to spread the word. Some people provided easy-to-understand illustrations of how to operate the map, and others approached us through social networking sites, articles, and video interviews. Many people spread the word that this kind of activity existed. Since it is open source, it can be used in the event of another disaster, and I think it is a good thing that it is constantly changing and becoming more convenient through the hands of people.

【能登半島地震コネクトマップ】
ネットの状況を可視化するアプリです。
現地におられる方々が、ここつながるよ！とポチするだけで登録完了！
データはオープンデータとして活用します。
ぜひ！現地に共有願います！https://t.co/CZbTKh9odj?#能登半島地震コネクトマップ pic.twitter.com/SfegP1Zlfj

— 山口陽子@グラレコ (@yoko_yamaguchi4) January 9, 2024

What we can do to protect our own community by ourselves

Q. What is the driving force behind your non-profit but vigorous activities?

--Mr. Fukushima: For example, realistically speaking, after 3 months, I don't think the earthquake is as big in people's minds as it was at first. I remember people who were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake gave me advice on Facebook. He said that if we don't make sure that we can stand on our own feet while the whole of Japan is helping us now, we will have a hard time when people eventually forget about us.This is inevitable. This is something we have no choice but to do. Some people are still helping us even though time has passed since the disaster, but no one can think about it all the time. So, in a way, we can say that we have no choice but to protect our own community by ourselves in the end. And simply, I like the idea that we should really try to take care of our own land ourselves. For me, that is one of the driving forces behind doing civic tech.

Q. Finally, do you have a message for our readers?

--Mr. Fukushima: Earthquakes could happen tomorrow, or they could happen here and now. We don't have time to think about anything after an earthquake happens. That is why I want you to be as prepared as possible. Even if you prepare for it, it often doesn't work. But nothing can be done without preparation. And I want people to know that starting with civic tech, we can all create and assemble information together, and in this way we can increase the safety and convenience of the community. And I hope that those who understand these benefits will explain them to those around them.

Continue the recovery by doing what each of us can do

About four months after January 1, 2024, when the massive earthquake struck, and before this interview, the author participated in volunteer activities and once again witnessed the situation in Ishikawa Prefecture after the disaster.

After the Hokuriku Shinkansen line is extended,while Kanazawa City, which is excited about the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, was bustling with many tourists, and I was struck by the strength of the people, the Oku-noto area, several dozen kilometers away, still bears strong scars from the earthquake.

Buildings were still collapsed, roads were still cracked and distorted--a scene that made one feel that reconstruction was not even halfway, but only at the beginning. The story that "memories fade with the passage of time" came to mind.

Collapsed buildings can be seen everywhere

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After a 25-minute drive from the volunteer center, while cleaning up the disaster trash, I keenly realized that first of all, we did not have enough power to do anything.

Many of the calls for volunteers came from the elderly. There was an overwhelming lack of the strength needed to lift a fallen wardrobe, gouge open a blocked entrance, or any other situation, and the number of people who could do it, in this area.

Although the "Noto Peninsula Earthquake Connect Map" is no longer available, if there is a similar map for a similar disaster, simply registering information there will help people. Even if you don't have any special skills, it gives you more opportunities to make use of your abilities - we are very happy to see technology being used in such a way.

I hope everyone can help each other as much as they can.

Let's visit the Noto area
which has been registered as a World Agricultural Heritage site as "Noto Satoyama Sea"
a wonderful region with peaceful and gentle scenery.

code for kanazawa
https://codeforkanazawa.org/

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