In Italy the perception of seismic hazard is greatly underestimated. In the most dangerous seismic areas of our country, only 6 out of 100 Italians have an optimal perception. According to a study by INGV
A survey by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), conducted in 2015 in collaboration with the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies of the National Research Council (CNR-IRPPS) and the National Institute of Oceanography? ae of Experimental Geophysics of Trieste (OGS) and funded by the Department of Civil Protection (DPC), on a national statistical sample of over 4 thousand people, showed that in Italy the perception of seismic hazard is greatly underestimated. The Italian territory is particularly exposed to earthquakes, however "in the most dangerous seismic areas of our country, where about 41,3% of the population lives (seismic hazard map: http://www.mi.ingv.it/pericolosita-sismica/)”, as Massimo Crescimbene, INGV researcher and coordinator of the study explains, we can say that “only 6 out of 100 Italians have an adequate perception of the danger present in the area”. On a seven-point perception scale used in the questionnaire (http://www.terremototest.it) in which the score 1 indicates the lowest perception value while the score 7 indicates the maximum, the survey results show that the perception of seismic hazard in our country is on average 3,24, with insignificant differences, from from a statistical point of view, between the regions of the North (3,20), the Center (3,39) and the South and Islands (3,70). “These scores are extremely low if we consider that on the scale used for the questionnaire, the value 4 represents the score that divides the values into low (less than 4) and high (greater than 4) values but above all, and it is the most critical data, the average values recorded by citizens residing in more and less dangerous areas do not differ sufficiently from each other (3,03 and 3,53 respectively), whereas in the most dangerous areas one would have expected an average score higher than 5,50" adds Crescimbene. The Risk Perception and Communication survey also collected useful information for promoting seismic risk reduction campaigns and educational projects. “Of the total number of interviewees (N=4.012)”, continues Crescimbene, “just 6% think they are well informed about earthquakes and 33% are fairly informed, while 38% think they are superficially informed and 23% not be at all. The medium most used to obtain information is television (37%) followed by newspapers (22%) and the web (21%), Civil Protection (7%) Research institutions and universities (2%), Regions, Provinces and Municipalities (4%), Books (4%) the remaining 3% receive information from friends, family and voluntary associations. Finally, it should be noted that less than 5% of the interviewees have personally participated in an initiative for the reduction of seismic risk: among these, almost all underlined a strong involvement and interest”. "Based on the results of the survey", concludes Crescimbene, "we can state that information campaigns on the reduction of seismic risk appear to be more fundamental in our country, such as "I do not risk an earthquake" promoted and implemented by the Department of Civil Protection (DPC ), INGV, ANPAS and the Consortium of the Network of University Seismic Engineering Laboratories, in agreement with the Regions and Municipalities concerned. It is also essential to transform the educational projects carried out in schools in recent years (for example the EDURISK Project, www.edurisk.it ) into permanent programs, to give life to a more informed, aware and actively involved generation of citizens in risk reduction natural".
Abstract A survey of the Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), conducted in 2015 in collaboration with CNR-IRPPS and the OGS of Trieste and funded by the Department of Civil Protection (DPC), on a national statistical sample of more than 4 thousand people, has shown that in Italy the perception of seismic hazard is heavily underestimated. Results showed that in the seismic zones considered most hazardous (peak ground acceleration higher than 0.15 g), only the 6% of interviewees have good perception of hazard; while in the seismic zones where PGA is less than 0.15 g, the percentage is about 17%. These results demonstrate that in our country it is urgent and necessary to promote seismic risk reduction campaigns (eg Terremoto Io non Rischio) and develop permanent educational projects in the schools (eg EDURISK), to have, in a near future, citizens more informed and aware.
Images
Figure 1 - Seismic hazard map of the national territory, expressed in terms of maximum ground acceleration (PGA) with a probability of exceeding 10% in 50 years (Ordinance PCM 3519 of 28/04/2006 - General criteria for identifying the seismic zones and for the formation and updating of the lists of the same zones published in the GU n. 108 of 11/05/2006)
Figure 2 – Distribution of hazard perception scores for seismic zones with maximum ground acceleration (PGA) greater and less than 0.15 (statistical sample of 4012 people representative of the Italian population)
Figure 3 - Level of information on earthquakes (statistical sample of 4012 people representative of the Italian population)
Figure 4 – results of the survey on the perception of seismic hazard by geographical areas North, Centre, South and Islands. The results are shown for hazard perception score classes: from 1 to 2,5; from 2,51 to 4,0; from 4,01 to 5.5; from 5,51 to 7,0; and for seismic areas where a maximum acceleration on the ground greater or less than 0,15 g (acceleration of gravity) is expected.