Measuring Damage and Recovery Status of Residents in Terms of “Quality of Life”

Long-term decline in a large-scale disaster may cause health impairment or even death. This chapter proposes a methodology for evaluating chronological changes in quality of life from occurrence of a disaster to restoration stages in units of small districts. The areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake are evaluated to clarify quantitatively the differences in recovery processes among areas and the differences in the degree of deterioration/recovery, depending on infrastructure development.