An Analysis of Twitter Messages in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

Abstract

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have proven to be a useful resource to understand public opinion towards real world events. In this paper, we investigate over 1.5 million Twitter messages (tweets) for the period 9 th March 2011 to 31 st May 2011 in order to track awareness and anxiety levels in the Tokyo metropolitan district to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear emergencies. These three events were tracked using both English and Japanese tweets. Preliminary results indicated: 1) close correspondence between Twitter data and earthquake events, 2) strong correlation between English and Japanese tweets on the same events, 3) tweets in the native language play an important roles in early warning, 4) tweets showed how quickly Japanese people's anxiety returned to normal levels after the earthquake event. Several distinctions between English and Japanese tweets on earthquake events are also discussed. The results suggest that Twitter data can be used as a useful resource for tracking the public mood of populations affected by natural disasters as well as an early warning system.

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“…Wetzstein, Grubmüller-Régent, Götsch, & Rainer 96 publications, pilot projects, and practical initiatives (Doan, Vo, & Collier, 2011;Johansson, Brynielsson, & Quijano, 2012;Nilsson et al, 2012;Rainer, Grubmüller, Pejic, Götsch, & Leitner, 2013). The link between social media and crises is not surprising, given the prominence that interactive Web 2.0 services have attained within the past decade.…”

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Irmgard Wetzstein

Department of Communication University of Vienna AustriaVerena Grubmüller-Régent

University of Applied Sciences Vienna Austria

Katharina Götsch

University of Vienna AustriaKarin Rainer

AEI Agency for European Integration and Economic Development Vienna, AustriaWetzstein, Grubmüller-Régent, Götsch, & Rainer 96 publications, pilot projects, and practical initiatives (Doan, Vo, & Collier, 2011;Johansson, Brynielsson, & Quijano, 2012;Nilsson et al, 2012;Rainer, Grubmüller, Pejic, Götsch, & Leitner, 2013). The link between social media and crises is not surprising, given the prominence that interactive Web 2.0 services have attained within the past decade.

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