Photo/Illutration Despite government advice to evacuate on foot, many residents in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, used cars to reach shelters after the July 30 earthquake and tsunami warnings. (Masakazu Higashino)

More than half of the evacuees fled in cars during the tsunami warning after the July earthquake off the Kamchatka Peninsula, resulting in more than one-third of them hitting traffic jams, according to a Cabinet Office survey.

The findings highlight a gap between government guidance in an emergency and the public response.

Since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, officials have advised evacuation on foot to prevent deadly traffic congestion.

However, the survey shows that the message has not fully reached the public or been broadly accepted.

This has prompted the Cabinet Office to adopt a more practical approach, including the creation of emergency traffic rules to ease congestion.

The July 30 earthquake in eastern Russia triggered tsunami warnings across 13 Japanese prefectures from Hokkaido to Wakayama.

In October, ofiicials conducted an online survey of residents in Hokkaido, Miyagi, Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, receiving 4,300 responses.

Overall, 23.5 percent of respondents said they evacuated in response to the alert. The rate was highest in Hokkaido, closest to the epicenter, at 39.6 percent.

Asked about evacuation methods, 55.3 percent said they utilized cars, surpassing the 39.1 percent who left on foot. Among car users, 36.1 percent reported encountering traffic jams.

While the magnitude 8.8 quake and tsunami did not cause any direct fatalities in Japan, one driver died in a traffic accident while evacuating. 

The government has advised against evacuating by car, particularly after the 2011 disaster, when traffic congestion contributed to many fatalities as people became trapped and engulfed by the incoming tsunami.

However, the latest survey has prompted officials to shift their focus toward safer car evacuations and traffic management, rather than simply discouraging evacuating by vehicles.

While the official guidance to evacuate on foot remains, local governments will also be urged to prepare for scenarios in which residents choose to flee by car.

This includes the creation of emergency traffic regulations and community evacuation drills.

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