Earthquake Hazards and the Disabled

本研究将建立一套实验系统，以观察及评估具有下肢、四肢及视觉三类残障人士的震后行为。四组（三组残疾人和一组非残疾人）将参与研究。将设置一个静态房间来模拟地震对室内物体和住宅中典型布置的影响。在观看了显示地震震动和影响的视听磁带后，受试者将被要求在地震发生后立即执行与安全相关的不同任务。室内模拟器将能够反映两级地震（低和高）的余震。关于乘员行为和表现的一个数据来源将是每个受试者在安全相关任务上表现的录像带。将试图确定：a)残疾人在执行自我保护任务的能力方面是否与健全的人不同；b)残疾类型是否与任务执行有关；c)地震烈度如何影响居住者采取自我保护措施的能力。将使用方差分析技术来分析数据。录像带除了为定量实验分析提供数据外，还应成为地震后建筑物居住者应对行为定性数据的重要来源。

This research will develop an experimental system to observe and evaluate the post- earthquake behavior of individuals with three classes of disabilities - lower extremity, all extremities, and visual. Four groups (three groups of disabled persons and a non-disabled group) will be involved in the study. A static room will be set up to simulate the effect of earthquakes on the interior room objects and arrangements typically found in residential dwellings. After viewing an audio-visual tape showing earthquake shaking and effects, subjects will be asked to perform different safety-related tasks that would be carried out immediately after earthquake impact. The room simulator will be able to reflect the after-effects of two levels of earthquake shaking (low and high). One source of data on occupant behavior and performance will be video tapes of each subject's performance on the safety-related tasks. An attempt will be made to determine: a) Whether disabled persons differ from able-bodied persons in their ability to carry out self-protective tasks; b) Whether the type of disability is related to task performance; c) How earthquake intensity affects occupants' ability to take self- protective measures. Analysis of variance techniques will be used to analyze the data. In addition to providing data for quantitative experimental analysis, the video tapes should be an important source of qualitative data on the coping behavior of building occupants following earthquakes.