Source. There's a summary in Russian.

Basically, the Japanese were experimenting with getting people out of a building as fast as possible. They discovered that putting a column to the side of an exit - not in front of it - funnels the crowd out the doors faster. Otherwise, people approaching the exit all attempt to occupy the same spot in time-space and end up getting stuck... in true sheep fashion. :P

Edit: Wait, I was going for Natural Disasters.