Examination of Risk Perception, Fear and Preparedness of Individuals Experiencing Earthquakes

Abstract

An earthquake, which can directly affect individual and social life, is a natural event that is difficult to predict. However, previous earthquake experiences can trigger earthquake risk perception and fear. Reasonable risk perception and fear generally affect earthquake preparedness behaviour positively. This study aims to reveal the earthquake risk perception, fear, and actual and perceived preparedness levels of the people in a region in Turkey where a destructive earthquake occurred. Data were collected from 388 respondents who experienced the Elazig earthquake in 2020 through a structured questionnaire. The findings indicate that earthquake risk perception and fear are high, but actual and perceived preparedness levels are low. The results showed that gender, earthquake education, the way the earthquake is explained differ significantly with the risk perception, fear, actual and perceived preparedness levels. In addition, it has been determined that risk perception, fear, actual and perceived preparedness levels are related to each other at certain levels. The research is considered necessary because it deals with many variables and offers a holistic view of the research field.