Assessing the Influence of Cultural Variables, Perceptions, and Earthquake Hazard Information on Household Emergency Preparedness

本项目将研究文化变量和不同形式的地震灾害信息对波特兰（俄勒冈州）大都市区地震风险感知和准备的影响。这项工作的潜在社会影响是四倍的。首先，研究成果将通过纳入研究者的课程材料和教科书来改善大学教学。其次，该项目将从历史上在科学和工程学科中代表性不足的人口统计学群体中招收博士生。第三，它将让拉丁裔社区成员参与进来，从而提高社区参与度。最后，与地方和州应急管理机构的合作关系将提供一种传播改进的灾害地图和向公众传播地震灾害信息的其他方法的手段。这个项目有三个具体目标。首先，评估媒体对卡斯卡迪亚地震灾害的关注对周边地区家庭地震应急准备的影响。其次，它将评估不同类型的危险地图对当地居民的可用性和有用程度。第三，它将检验主动和被动沟通策略在促进地震风险认知和家庭应急准备方面的相对有效性。为了实现这些目标，高风险地区的居民将完成一份地震风险感知和准备问卷，并将获得信息来源，以告知他们对灾害风险的评估。将评估信息使用的效果，并将其与从参加基于主动学习技术和目标制定策略的面对面培训课程的个人收集的效果进行比较。文化因素对防备态度和行为的影响将通过使用西班牙语提供的相同材料和方法与波特兰拉丁裔人口合作来评估。

This project will examine the effect of cultural variables and different forms of earthquake hazard information on seismic risk perception and preparedness in the Portland (Oregon) Metropolitan Area. The potential societal impact of this work is four-fold. First, the research findings will improve university teaching by being incorporated into the investigator's course materials and textbooks. Second, the project will recruit doctoral students from demographic groups that are historically under-represented in scientific and engineering disciplines. Third, it will involve members of the Latino community, thus increasing community engagement. Finally, the collaborative relationship with local and state emergency management agencies will provide a means of disseminating improved hazard maps and other methods of communicating earthquake hazard information to the public. This project has three specific objectives. First, it will assess the influence of media attention concerning the Cascadia earthquake hazard on earthquake emergency preparedness by households in the surrounding area. Second, it will assess the degree to which different types of hazard maps are accessible and useful to local residents. Third, it will examine the relative effectiveness of active and passive communication strategies in promoting earthquake risk perception and household emergency preparedness. To accomplish these objectives, residents in at-risk areas study will complete a seismic risk perception and preparedness questionnaire, and will have access to information sources to inform their assessments of hazard risk. The effects of information use will be assessed and compared with those collected from individuals attending in-person training sessions based on active-learning techniques and goal-setting strategies. The influence of cultural factors on preparedness attitudes and behavior will be assessed by working with the Portland Latino population using the same materials and approaches, provided in Spanish.