Tsunami risk perception in central and southern Italy

<p>The Tsunami Alert Centre of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CAT-INGV) has been promoting, since 2018, the study of tsunami risk perception in Italy. Between 2018 and 2021 a semi-structured questionnaire on the perception of tsunami risk was administered to a sample of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: L. Cugliari, M. Crescimbene, F. La Longa, A. Cerase, A. Amato, L. Cerbara
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2022-12-01
Series:Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Online Access:https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/22/4119/2022/nhess-22-4119-2022.pdf
_version_ 1797979271905411072
author L. Cugliari
M. Crescimbene
F. La Longa
A. Cerase
A. Cerase
A. Amato
L. Cerbara
author_facet L. Cugliari
M. Crescimbene
F. La Longa
A. Cerase
A. Cerase
A. Amato
L. Cerbara
author_sort L. Cugliari
collection DOAJ
description <p>The Tsunami Alert Centre of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CAT-INGV) has been promoting, since 2018, the study of tsunami risk perception in Italy. Between 2018 and 2021 a semi-structured questionnaire on the perception of tsunami risk was administered to a sample of 5842 citizens residing in 450 Italian coastal municipalities, representative of more than 12 million people. The survey was conducted with the computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) methodology, described in Cerase et al. (2019), who published the results of the first pilot survey (about 1000 interviews). The large sample and the socio-demographic stratification give an excellent representation of the resident population in the surveyed Italian coastal municipalities. Moreover, in 2021 an optimized version of the questionnaire was also administered via Telepanel (a tool for collecting proportional and representative opinions of citizens) that was representative of the Italian population and included 1500 people distributed throughout the country.</p> <p>In this work we present the main results of the three survey phases, with a comparison among the eight surveyed regions and between the coastal regions and some coastal metropolitan cities involved in the investigations (Rome, Naples, Bari, Reggio Calabria, and Catania).</p> <p>Data analysis reveals heterogeneous and generally low tsunami risk perception. Some seaside populations, in fact, show a good perception of tsunami risk, while others, such as in Apulia and Molise, reveal a lower perception, most likely due to the long time elapsed since the last event and lack of memory. We do not find relevant differences related to the socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender) of the sample, whereas the education degree appears to affect people's perception. The survey shows that the respondents' predominant source of information on tsunamis is the television and other media sources (such as newspapers, books, films, internet), while the official sources (e.g., civil protection, local authorities, universities and research institutes) do not contribute significantly. Also, we find an interesting difference in people's understanding of the words tsunami and <i>maremoto</i>, the local term commonly used in Italy until the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman event, which should be taken into account in scientific and risk communication. The Telepanel survey, based on a nationwide sample, highlights a lower level of tsunami risk perception in comparison to average risk perception levels found in the coastal-municipality sample.</p> <p>Our results are being used to drive our communication strategy aimed at reducing tsunami risk in Italy, to activate dissemination and educational programs (data driven), to fill the data gap on tsunami risk perception in the North-Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAM) area, and to implement multilevel civil protection actions (national and local, top-down and bottom-up). Not least, outputs can address a better development of the UNESCO Tsunami Ready program in Italy.</p>
first_indexed 2024-04-11T05:36:20Z
format Article
id doaj.art-e01980a63a494c7cb91cd6f8fde87335
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1561-8633
1684-9981
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T05:36:20Z
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher Copernicus Publications
record_format Article
series Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
spelling doaj.art-e01980a63a494c7cb91cd6f8fde873352022-12-22T12:20:13ZengCopernicus PublicationsNatural Hazards and Earth System Sciences1561-86331684-99812022-12-01224119413810.5194/nhess-22-4119-2022Tsunami risk perception in central and southern ItalyL. Cugliari0M. Crescimbene1F. La Longa2A. Cerase3A. Cerase4A. Amato5L. Cerbara6Earthquakes Department, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, 00153, Rome, Italy​​​​​​​Earthquakes Department, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, 00153, Rome, Italy​​​​​​​Earthquakes Department, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, 00153, Rome, Italy​​​​​​​Earthquakes Department, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, 00153, Rome, Italy​​​​​​​Department of Communication and Social Research, La Sapienza University, 00198, Rome ItalyEarthquakes Department, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, 00153, Rome, Italy​​​​​​​Institute of Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council, 00185, Rome, Italy<p>The Tsunami Alert Centre of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CAT-INGV) has been promoting, since 2018, the study of tsunami risk perception in Italy. Between 2018 and 2021 a semi-structured questionnaire on the perception of tsunami risk was administered to a sample of 5842 citizens residing in 450 Italian coastal municipalities, representative of more than 12 million people. The survey was conducted with the computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) methodology, described in Cerase et al. (2019), who published the results of the first pilot survey (about 1000 interviews). The large sample and the socio-demographic stratification give an excellent representation of the resident population in the surveyed Italian coastal municipalities. Moreover, in 2021 an optimized version of the questionnaire was also administered via Telepanel (a tool for collecting proportional and representative opinions of citizens) that was representative of the Italian population and included 1500 people distributed throughout the country.</p> <p>In this work we present the main results of the three survey phases, with a comparison among the eight surveyed regions and between the coastal regions and some coastal metropolitan cities involved in the investigations (Rome, Naples, Bari, Reggio Calabria, and Catania).</p> <p>Data analysis reveals heterogeneous and generally low tsunami risk perception. Some seaside populations, in fact, show a good perception of tsunami risk, while others, such as in Apulia and Molise, reveal a lower perception, most likely due to the long time elapsed since the last event and lack of memory. We do not find relevant differences related to the socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender) of the sample, whereas the education degree appears to affect people's perception. The survey shows that the respondents' predominant source of information on tsunamis is the television and other media sources (such as newspapers, books, films, internet), while the official sources (e.g., civil protection, local authorities, universities and research institutes) do not contribute significantly. Also, we find an interesting difference in people's understanding of the words tsunami and <i>maremoto</i>, the local term commonly used in Italy until the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman event, which should be taken into account in scientific and risk communication. The Telepanel survey, based on a nationwide sample, highlights a lower level of tsunami risk perception in comparison to average risk perception levels found in the coastal-municipality sample.</p> <p>Our results are being used to drive our communication strategy aimed at reducing tsunami risk in Italy, to activate dissemination and educational programs (data driven), to fill the data gap on tsunami risk perception in the North-Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAM) area, and to implement multilevel civil protection actions (national and local, top-down and bottom-up). Not least, outputs can address a better development of the UNESCO Tsunami Ready program in Italy.</p>https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/22/4119/2022/nhess-22-4119-2022.pdf
spellingShingle L. Cugliari
M. Crescimbene
F. La Longa
A. Cerase
A. Cerase
A. Amato
L. Cerbara
Tsunami risk perception in central and southern Italy
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
title Tsunami risk perception in central and southern Italy
title_full Tsunami risk perception in central and southern Italy
title_fullStr Tsunami risk perception in central and southern Italy
title_full_unstemmed Tsunami risk perception in central and southern Italy
title_short Tsunami risk perception in central and southern Italy
title_sort tsunami risk perception in central and southern italy
url https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/22/4119/2022/nhess-22-4119-2022.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT lcugliari tsunamiriskperceptionincentralandsouthernitaly
AT mcrescimbene tsunamiriskperceptionincentralandsouthernitaly
AT flalonga tsunamiriskperceptionincentralandsouthernitaly
AT acerase tsunamiriskperceptionincentralandsouthernitaly
AT acerase tsunamiriskperceptionincentralandsouthernitaly
AT aamato tsunamiriskperceptionincentralandsouthernitaly
AT lcerbara tsunamiriskperceptionincentralandsouthernitaly