Abstract
　We developed and tested methods to evaluate the difficulty in the residents' daily lives posed by the suspension of utility services including power, water, and piped gas. First, we defined a numerical scale to measure the severity of inconvenience in the essential activity at home, which we represented with cooking, using the toilet, using a washbasin, taking a bath, and washing clothes. Second, we constructed a formula to estimate the severity on the basis of 1) living type of household, which was classified in terms of the extent how far a household depends on utilities and 2) the number of days for which each service was interrupted. Third, we carried out a test survey in the affected area of the Chiba-ken-toho-oki earthquake of 1987 to 1) determine the extent of the inconvenience experienced in the disaster and 2) confirm the accuracy of the estimation method. We, finally, applied the methods to 1) the comparison of inconvenience among affected areas, including those in different earthquakes and 2) the evaluation of inconvenience that potentially increases during the urbanization of an area.

【キーワード】：地震災害，生活支障，ライフライン，ユーティリティ，調査法，被害予測
Key words: earthquake disaster, inconvenience in daily living, lifeline, utility, survey method, damage assessment

*東京都立大学（現在，長岡工業高等専門学校）
Tokyo Metropolitan University (Currently, Nagaoka College of Technology)
**（財）電力中央研究所
Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry