1

Overview of cases analyzed in literature survey
Atsuko TANAKAInstitute for Geo-Resources and EnvironmentNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
Introduction
Figure 1 Year and Escape Cases
Human factors
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M5.117 Literature Survey and Risk Analysis of Escape from Underground Spaces
Table 2 Distances and estimated traveling time in the case of slower adult
Table 1 Distances to safety exits of in cases analyzed
Figure 2 Relation between distances to safe exit and location of events of analyzed cases
Figure 3 Experiment of way finding
Figure 4 Experiment of traveling
Large underground spaces have been used for centuries and their use is expanding to mines, road tunnels, railway tunnels, and subways. A review of disasters in large underground spaces indicates common trends in the progression of the chain of accidental events and the number of victims, even in different times and places. Such serious results could be prevented if previous disasters and human factors in underground escape are well recognized.

Much research and development has gone into evacuation safety in large underground spaces, especially in emergency and safety systems and facilities. Consequences of factors affecting escape in previous cases have not been
evaluated sufficiently, resulting in a shortage of common understanding of behavior in discussing desirable safety facilities for large underground spaces, not to mention the estimation of time available for such acts a factor that in itself creates danger. It is therefore essential to reorganize knowledge and findings from previous disasters cases and transfer these to other technological fields in easily understandable form.

In this poster, we analyze 22 of previous cases of escape from large underground spaces and discuss the consequences of factors affecting the result of evacuation.
smoke
obstacles
''99 Mont Blanc road tunnel
''72 Hokuriku railway tunnel
''79 Ohshimizu tunnel construction site
''84 Miike coal mine
'79 San Francisco BART
'03 Korea Daegu
(Earthquakes) '94 Kobe subway'04 Ohshimizu tunnel
''01Gotthard road tunnel
''79 Nihonzaka road tunnel
''99 Tauern road tunnel

Year

Place,

(deaths)

Escape route or shelter

Remarks

1979

San Francisco, CA, USA

(0)

Exits to an adjacent road were located at 100 [m] intervals road, which was connected to a parallel service tunnel.

BART train tunnels consisted of 2 railway tunnels and one service tunnel.

2001

Gotthard road tunnel

(11)

Shelters stood at 250 [m] intervals.

News stated that a number of passengers escaped into shelters.

1996

Euro Tunnel

(0)

Entrances to adjacent roads were located at 357 [m] intervals to adjacent roads connected to a service tunnel, to which positive air pressure was applied.

Euro train tunnels consisted of 2 railway tunnels and one service tunnel.

1977

Yuzawa tunnel construction site

(0)

The excavation face with compressed air valves was 470 [m] away from where the fire started.

Breathing air from compressed air pipes, personnel remained waiting near the excavation face for about 6 hours until rescue teams arrived.

1999

Mont Blanc road tunnel

(39)

Shelters were located at 600 [m] intervals.

In the fires aftermath, exits were planned at 300 [m] intervals.

2004

Ohshimizu railway tunnel

(0)

More than 400 passengers walked 400 [m] along the railway, then climbed a 600 [m] tunnel that was connected to a ground surface exit.

It took about 2 hours to complete the escape.

Distance

50 [m]

500 [m]

1,000 [m]

5,000 [m]

Upward

1 [min]

14 [min]

29 [min]

144 [min]

On the level

1

6

12

60

Downward

1

13

26

131

Distances are horizontal components upward and downward.

References
Asahi Sinbun newspaper: 1972.11.6: evening ed. p.1,3,10 - 1973.1.17: 13rd ed. p.1,3 (Japanese)Hokkaido Assoc. Coalmine Tech & Kyushu Assoc. Coalmine Tech.: Past cases of underground coalmine fires (Japanese), pp.167-171, 1985Ministry of labor, Labor standard bureau: Official notes on prevention of fires in construction sites of tunnels and other underground spaces (Japanese), No.418-2, 1977.7.25Washington post: Metro fire posed ad dilemma for rescuers., p.B01, 2000.4.22- T.Andersen, B.J.Paaske: Safety in railway tunnels and selection of tunnel concept, ESReDA 23rd Seminar, Delft Univ., Netherlands, 2002.11.18-19Asahi Sinbun newspaper: 1979.3.21 13th ed. p.22 - 1979.3.25 13th ed. p.23 (Japanese)- Ministry of labor, Labor standard bureau: Official notes on fire prevention in constructing very long tunnels (Japanese), No. 523-2, 1979.10.22Asahi Sinbun newspaper: 1979.7.12: 13rd ed. p.23 - 1979.7.26: 13rd ed. p.4 (Japanese)- The fire in the Nihonzaka tunnel of Tomei expressway (Japanese), Kasai, Vol. 29, No.5, pp.4-11, 1979- H.Morimoto: The fire in the Nihonzaka tunnel of Tomei expressway, the judgment of the 1st court and a few problems to mention (Japanese), Kindai Shobo, No.7, pp.32-38, 1990- The judgment of the fire in the Nihonzaka tunnel of Tomei expressway, the problems around fire fighting (Japanese): Kindai Shobo, No.7, pp.47-50, 1990- Ministry of construction: Regulations on emergency facilities for road tunnels (Japanese), 1981.4.21Report of the min fire of Miike underground coalmine, disaster investigation committee (Japanese), 1984Asahi Sinbun newspaper: 1984.11.16: evening 3rd ed. p.19 - 1984.11.21: evening 3rd ed. p.17 (Japanese)Asahi Sinbun newspaper: 1987.9.22: 14th ed. p.31, evening 4th ed. p.15 (Japanese)I.Donald, D.Canter: Intentionality and fatality during the King's Cross underground fire, European J. of Social Psychology, Vol.22, No.3, pp.203-218, 1992- I.Donald, D.Canter: Behavioural aspects of the King's Cross disaster, Fires & human behaviour 2nd ed., ISBN: 1-85346-105-9, pp.15-30, David Fulton Pub., 1990- A.F.Roberts: The King's Cross Fire: A correlation of eyewitness accounts and results of the scientific investigation, Fire safety J., ISBN: 0379-7112, Vol.18, pp.105-121, 1992Asahi Sinbun newspaper: 1988.7.16: 14th ed p.14, evening 4th ed. p.1, p.11, 1988.7.17: 14th ed. p.31 (Japanese)Asahi Sinbun newspaper: 1995.2.28 Osaka evening ed. p.1 (Japanese)The fire in euro-tunnel on November 18, 1997 (Japanese), Monthly FESC, Vol.193, No.11, pp.36-41, 1997- K.Higure: Field survey report on The fire in euro-tunnel (Japanese), Monthly FESC, Vol.193, No.11, pp.33-35, 1997BBC: Austrian tunnel fire traps drivers, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/355821.stm, 1999.5.29, and related articles- A.Leitner : The fire catastrophe in the Tauern Tunnel: experience and conclusions for the Austrian guidelines,- Tunneling and Underground Space Technology, Vol.16, No.3, July 2001, pp.217-223, 2001BBC: Tunnel blaze report highlights failings, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/388904.stm, 1999.7.8BBC: Austria tunnel fire blamed on heater, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1528917.stm, 2001.9.6, and related articlesBBC: Smoke hinders Swiss tunnel rescue, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1617309.stm, 2001.10.25BBC: Dozens killed in Ukraine mine fire, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2109140.stm, 2002.7.5- CNN: Neglect 'caused' Ukraine mine fire, http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/07/08/ukraine/, 2002.7.7Editorial Interview: The disastrous fire in Daegu city subway and required safety measures (Japanese), Kindai Shobo, No.10, pp.30-35, 2003- T.Matsushita: Study on evacuation in an underground space and smoke control for helping fire fight activities (Japanese), University of Kobe, 2004- Park Hyun Woo, Jun Gyu Yob & Hong Won Hwa: The analysis of survivors escape route of each train in Daegu city subway fire, kyungpook national university, Department of Architecture, the first investigation report (Korean), 2003- Japanese.chosun.com: The disaster in the subway: 2003.02.18 18:32, and related articles (Japanese)- Japan.donga.com: The prompt action of the railway official saved citizens lives, 2003.2.19 22:37, and related articles (Japanese)niigattanippo.com newspaper: 2003.5.4: A fire break out in Ohmi mine, and related articles (Japanese)K.Igarasi, K.Koizumi: Report on the Niigata Chubu earthquake, 7 hours in tunnel, the interview report of passengers who escaped from Joetsu Shinkansen train (Japanese), Shukan Asahi, pp. 34-35, 2004.11.26 BBC: In depth London attacks, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2005/london_explosions/default.stm, 2006.7.6Hokkaido Assoc. Coalmine Tech & Kyushu Assoc. Coalmine Tech.: Past cases of underground coalmine fires (Japanese), pp.249-256, 295-306, 167-171, 1985J.Hoshi et al.: Site survey on exhaust gas of automobiles in road tunnels - Result of a survey onto a general road way tunnel - (III), Tokyo metro inst. of environmental research(Japanese), pp.12-19, 2002A.Mizuno, T.Ohkubo, T.Kitani: Control and evaluation method of longitudinal tunnel ventilation control (Japanese), Proc. Japan Assoc. Mech. Eng., Vol.75, pp.187-188, 1998Roberts, A.F.: The king's cross fire: A correlation of eyewitness and accounts and results of the scientific investigation, Fire Safety Science, Vol.18, No.1, pp.105-121, 1991City of Kobe, Transit Authority: Report on energy saving plan of railroad facilities (Japanese), Annex, pp. SHI 2 - 7~9, 2003T.Komai, K.Uchino, T.Isei: Experimental research on temperature distribution of downwind of underground mine gallery (Japanese), Proc. of Spring meeting Japan Mine & Minerals Inst., 1989T.Komai: Experimental study on spread of underground mine fire and prevention of fire spread (Japanese), Report of Nat. Inst. for Res. & Env. No.1, 1992S.Yamao: Experimental research on similitude of experiments on underground mine fires (Japanese), Mining and safety, Vol.27, No.4, pp.17-25, 1981Spalding, D.B.: The art of partial modeling, Proc. 9th Int. Symp. Combustion, pp.833-843, 1963Japan Assoc. for Fire Sci. & Eng.: Fire Handbook (Japanese), Kyoritsu Shuppan Co., pp.500-502, 1984M.Inoue, K.Uchino, T.Komai, et al.: Experimental study on temperature of ventilation air and change of air velocity in underground mine fires - change in ventilation air in the case of underground mine fires (Japanese), J. of Japan Mine & Minerals Inst., Vol.106, No.2, pp.65-70, 1990C.K.Lee, R.F.Chaiken, J.M.Singer: Interaction between duct fire and ventilation flow, Combustion science and technology, Vol.20, pp.59-72, 1979A.Tanaka, H.Imaizumi, T.Isei: Traveling speed alternation of human in evacuation from underground opening space to surface, Proc. ASIAFLAM '95, pp. 519-524, 1995Tanaka: Report of interview investigation on decision making in emergency escape, Final report of Japan and USA cooperating research on NY/WTC disaster, Section 4-3, pp.4.3 1-16A.Tanaka, S.Nakamura, M.Yamaguchi: Experimental survey on recognition of direction in a deeper underground space (Japanese), Proc. symp. on underground space, Japan Soc. of Civil Engineers, vol. 3, pp. 43-52, 1998A.Tanaka, H.Imaizumi, T.Isei: Way finding in an underground space, Proc. Human behaviour in fire, ISBN: 1 85923 103 9, University of Ulster, vol. 1, pp. 563-572, 1998
Acknowledgement
The author is deeply indebted to Prof. Dr. Yoshiteru Murosaki of the National Research Institute of Disaster and to the Kobe University staff, whose help, stimulating suggestions, and encouragement enabled research on this issue. The author thank Dr. Akihiko Hokugo, Prof. Emeritus Dr. Isao Mitani,and Dr. Toshiyuki Matsushita for their invaluable suggestions on research details. The author also thank all whose support and interest enabled this work to be completed, and, last but not least, Dr. Kazuo Aoki for his attentive assistance and colleagues at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology for their help in all stages of research.
Discussion (continued)
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Discussion
Contact
Atsuko TANAKA Dr. Eng.Senior Researcher, AISTa.tanaka@aist.go.jphttp://staff.aist.gp.jp/a.tanaka/
Figure 5 Wind speed and smoke flow
Figure 6 Wind speed and slower adult's walking
Figure 8 Relation of total escape time and risk factors
Table 3 Distances and possibility of escape
Figure 9 decrease escape distances
Conclusion
Based on a survey of the literatures on 22 underground evacuation cases, we analyzed the influence of hazard factors on escape results. These cases involved road tunnels, railway tunnel, mines, and construction sites ranging from fires, automobile collisions, and power failures due to earthquakes to cases involving terrorist acts.

We found that evacuation success or failure depends on the urgency of the event and travel distances required to reach emergency exits or shelters, regardless of the purpose to which underground facilities were put. We also compared urgency and rescuer access time to cases. In power failures in underground spaces, the risk to human life and the need for immediate escape are relatively low unlike in some fires in which escape routes become untenable far more quickly than it takes for rescue teams to arrive.

The results of our survey demonstrated the importance of taking measures and implementing designs for self-escape assistance for evacuees information availability and adequate signage, for example especially in underground spaces. Based on an analysis of event urgency and travel time, we concluded that the limit to successful evacuation or escape is within 400 m of emergency exits.