SENDAI--Caught in a void of reliable information, stress levels are rising among evacuees over a barrage of unfounded rumors and hoaxes circulating through the Internet and cellphone text messages as well as the traditional grapevine.
SENDAI--Caught in a void of reliable information, stress levels are rising among evacuees over a barrage of unfounded rumors and hoaxes circulating through the Internet and cellphone text messages as well as the traditional grapevine.
All sorts of false information is circulating, from foreign looters running amok to radioactive fallout becoming a problem because of rain.
Life in the shelters is miserable enough and police, keen to stymie any sense of panic, decided to take action Friday.
Naoto Takeuchi, superintendent of the Miyagi prefectural police department, visited a shelter set up in Okada Elementary School here to distribute fliers urging evacuees "not to be fooled by unfounded rumors."
"I'm relieved to know that crime isn't as serious as some people make it out to be," said a 43-year-old woman after reading a flier and listening to explanations offered by Takeuchi and other police officials.
According to Miyagi police, officials handle between 500 and 1,000 emergency calls a day tipping them to "suspicious" incidents. In many cases, the information is mistaken and no crime is taking place.
Among the rumors rampant in the disaster zone are incidences of rape and "foreign thieves." One claimed that the electric power supply "will not return for a decade."
A 35-year-old man who was providing relief to evacuees at a shelter in Sendai said he had been warned by his wife and friends that lawlessness had overtaken the area.
While he said he was not sure about the credibility of the information, he had decided not to operate during the night hours, and wrapped up supplies he brought with him inside his sleeping bag when he went to sleep.
Many rumors play on health concerns among evacuees.
Three women staying at a shelter in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, said they received identical text messages on the night of March 18 that warned them not to get wet when it rained the next day.
The sender claimed that "you will be exposed to radiation for sure," and added that the "government is withholding such information to avoid confusion."
One of the recipients said the entire shelter was under the impression that the information was true.
The Internet has also become a platform for spreading rumors. One entry claimed that "riots have broken out because people's homes have been destroyed, while there are no clothes, food, water, electricity or gas."
Another entry stated that the sender "heard that there were two or three cases of murder-robberies" in the disaster area.
Meantime, some entries are serving to dispel such mistaken information.
"There is some stealing, but the security situation is not that bad," wrote one entry. Yet another said "none of the allegations cite any individual involved in those cases."
"Under the tough conditions in the disaster area, people's anxieties are coming to the fore through such rumors," said Hirotada Hirose, a professor of disaster and risk psychology at Tokyo Woman's Christian University.
Hirose said it will be "important for local authorities to properly disseminate correct information and for individuals to properly identify where information is coming from before resending that information to others."
(This article was written by Takuhei Minamide and Yoshikazu Hirai.)