TOKYO >> A new drone-based tsunami detection system is launching this year in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, to streamline the evacuation of residents in the event of a massive tsunami.

When a tsunami warning is issued, a drone will film the open water to capture any changes in the sea surface and livestream the footage via smartphone. The system is intended to address residents with a “normalcy bias” — the tendency to minimize warnings of danger in the belief that nothing serious will happen to them — and motivate them to evacuate quickly.

“We would like to discuss better ways to help residents understand imminent danger,” said a town government official.

During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, many residents were believed to have lost their lives because they hesitated to evacuate even after tsunami warnings were issued.

The Namie government is banking on residents, anglers and others watching the live feeds, which will enable them to see tsunami waves, realizing they are in danger and evacuate.

Namie will test-run the system to figure out how much movement the drone can capture of offshore tsunami waves, then will make improvements with the latest technologies under the guidance of experts.

The system was jointly developed by Namie and the Aizawa Concrete Corp. based in Tomakomai, Hokkaido. It kicks off when a tsunami warning is issued by the J-Alert nationwide early warning system. A drone automatically takes off from an earthquake-resistant hangar located in the town and films any changes in the sea surface from about 100 meters above. The aircraft is capable of flying for up to six hours, and residents can view the drone’s live feed by downloading an app on their phones.

Likewise, a system using a drone to support tsunami evacuation will be introduced this fiscal year in Ichinomiya, Chiba prefecture, a surfer hub that hosted the surfing competition in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. In Ichinomiya, the drone will fly over the ocean to alert surfers through a speaker.

Sendai introduced a similar system in 2022 after volunteer firefighters died while advising residents to evacuate during the 2011 earthquake. Live feeds are not part of the Sendai and Ichinomiya systems.

“Using a drone to film the surface of the sea will make it possible to provide accurate and real-time information for residents,” said Yuichiro Tanioka, professor emeritus at Hokkaido University, who is familiar with the challenges of tsunami disaster preparation.

“In order to make evacuations more efficient, more efforts could be made; artificial intelligence could be used to estimate the tsunami arrival time and height based on drone footage taken further offshore, and warn residents in real time.”