Options
The perception of seismic risk in Italy from 2013 up to day: which changes occur after some major earthquakes in recent years
Author(s)
Type
Conference paper
Language
English
Obiettivo Specifico
Status
Published
Issued date
September 2018
Conference Location
Valletta, Malta
Publisher
Mistral Service Anna Lo Presti Via Romagnosi, 28 98100 - Messina (Italy).
Alternative Location
Keywords
Abstract
Studies of risk perception examine the judgments that people make when they are asked to characterize and
evaluate hazardous activities and technologies (Slovic, 1987). Risk perception is a cognitive process involved
in several daily activities that orients people’s behaviors on the impact of uncertain events. This process is
both individual and collective; it selects and interprets signals related to direct observations or information
received from others. Some researches highlighted that in many cases there is a difference between subjective
risk perception and objective evaluation (Slovic, 1992, 2000).
To understand risk perception it is necessary to consider a number of social, psychological and cultural ambits,
as well as interaction among them (Wachinger & Renn, 2010). In our opinion, in agreement with the
constructivist approach, seismic risk perception does not depend on the actual value of the seismic risk but
there are others factors influencing it. In the specific case of seismic risk, the role of people perception is very
important, especially in the absence of clear communication strategies. The clarity of the language used by
mass media, scientists and decision-makers in communicating seismic risk to people is essential for a proper
knowledge and awareness.
This paper presents the results of the research on seismic risk perception in Italy, started by INGV researchers
on funding by the DPC 2012-2015.
In 2013, we built a questionnaire to assess seismic risk perception, with a particular attention to compare
hazard assessed by scientific data and methodology, then translated into a national law. The Seismic Risk
Perception Questionnaire (SRP-Q) is designed by semantic differential method, using opposite terms on a
Likert scale to seven points. The questionnaire allows to obtain scores for five risk indicators: Hazard,
Exposure, Vulnerability, People and Community, Earthquake Phenomenon.
In 2015, a CATI survey was conducted on a statistical sample of the Italian population (N=4,012), its results
represent a benchmark for the seismic risk perception in Italy.
At the same time, from 2013 to today, we have gathered on the web more than 9,800 responses to the SRP-Q
(www.terremototest.it) and these data allow us to make comparisons for year and for different reference
periods, also on the basis of the seismic phenomena that have occurred. The questionnaire is given by web on
a random sample since 2013, January 21th, to April 2018, collecting over 9,800 answers.
In this contribution we compare and discuss data collected during the last six years (2013-2018) trying to
investigate if and how the occurrence of strong and damaging earthquakes (in particular those occurred in
Central Italy in 2016) has changed the seismic risk perception in some regions of Italy.
We hope that the analysis of risk perception data is able to produce useful indications to design seismic risk
reduction activities and address risk communication strategies.
evaluate hazardous activities and technologies (Slovic, 1987). Risk perception is a cognitive process involved
in several daily activities that orients people’s behaviors on the impact of uncertain events. This process is
both individual and collective; it selects and interprets signals related to direct observations or information
received from others. Some researches highlighted that in many cases there is a difference between subjective
risk perception and objective evaluation (Slovic, 1992, 2000).
To understand risk perception it is necessary to consider a number of social, psychological and cultural ambits,
as well as interaction among them (Wachinger & Renn, 2010). In our opinion, in agreement with the
constructivist approach, seismic risk perception does not depend on the actual value of the seismic risk but
there are others factors influencing it. In the specific case of seismic risk, the role of people perception is very
important, especially in the absence of clear communication strategies. The clarity of the language used by
mass media, scientists and decision-makers in communicating seismic risk to people is essential for a proper
knowledge and awareness.
This paper presents the results of the research on seismic risk perception in Italy, started by INGV researchers
on funding by the DPC 2012-2015.
In 2013, we built a questionnaire to assess seismic risk perception, with a particular attention to compare
hazard assessed by scientific data and methodology, then translated into a national law. The Seismic Risk
Perception Questionnaire (SRP-Q) is designed by semantic differential method, using opposite terms on a
Likert scale to seven points. The questionnaire allows to obtain scores for five risk indicators: Hazard,
Exposure, Vulnerability, People and Community, Earthquake Phenomenon.
In 2015, a CATI survey was conducted on a statistical sample of the Italian population (N=4,012), its results
represent a benchmark for the seismic risk perception in Italy.
At the same time, from 2013 to today, we have gathered on the web more than 9,800 responses to the SRP-Q
(www.terremototest.it) and these data allow us to make comparisons for year and for different reference
periods, also on the basis of the seismic phenomena that have occurred. The questionnaire is given by web on
a random sample since 2013, January 21th, to April 2018, collecting over 9,800 answers.
In this contribution we compare and discuss data collected during the last six years (2013-2018) trying to
investigate if and how the occurrence of strong and damaging earthquakes (in particular those occurred in
Central Italy in 2016) has changed the seismic risk perception in some regions of Italy.
We hope that the analysis of risk perception data is able to produce useful indications to design seismic risk
reduction activities and address risk communication strategies.
File(s)
Loading...
Name
ESC2018_Book_of_Abstracts_1004.pdf
Size
620.98 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
cfde43f37c3d62aafcb4ea2e23341b61