Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study examines the current state of preparedness among Los Angeles County and San Francisco Bay Area residents, determines the extent to which levels of preparedness have changed since the Sylmar earthquake in 1971, identifies the circumstances under which people have prepared, and assesses the extent to which respondents' overall perceptions of preparedness match their reports of preparedness activities. Since the 1970s, residents of the two areas have increased their level of survival activities substantially, but progress in home-hazard mitigation and family earthquake planning has generally remained constant and low. Pre-earthquake preparedness was predicted by home ownership, income, education, marital status, number of children at home, number of years in the neighborhood, and number of earthquakes experienced. In contrast, post-earthquake preparedness was predicted by proximity to the earthquake epicenter, earthquake-related experiences, fear, and levels of pre-earthquake preparedness.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). A social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Becker, M. H. (1974). The health belief model and sick role behavior. Health Education Monographs, 2, 409-432.

Bourque, L. B. , Reeder, L. G. , Cherlin, A. , Raven, B. H. , & Walton, D. M. (1973). The unpredictable disaster in a metropolis: Public response to the Los Angeles earthquake of February, 1971. Los Angeles: Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, UCLA Survey Research Center.

Bourque, L. B. , & Russell, L. A. (1994). Experiences during and responses to te Loma Prieta earthquake. Oakland, CA: Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Earthquake Program.

Burger, J. M. , & Palmer, M. L. (1992). Changes in and generalization of unrealistic optimism following experiences with stressful events: Reactions to the 1989 California earthquake. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 11, 39-43.

Census of Population and Housing . (1991). 1990 Summary Tape File 3 (California) [machine-readable data files]. Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census [Producer and Distributor].

DeMan, A. , & Sinpson-Housely, P. (1987). Factors in perception of earthquake hazard. Perceptual and Motor Sidlis, 64, 815-820.

DeMan, A. , & Simpson-Housely, P. (1988). Correlates of responses to two potential hazards. Journal of Social Psychology, 128, 385-391.

Dooley, D. , Catalano, R. , Mishra, S. , & Serxner, S. (1992). Earthquake preparedness: Predictors in a community survey. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 451-470.

10.

Drabek, T. E. (1986). Human system responses to disaster: An inventory of sociological findings. New York: Springer-Verlag.

11.

Field, M. , & DiCamillo, M. (1992). The Field poll (Release No. 1638). San Francisco: The Field Institute.

12.

Frankel, M. (1983). Sampling theory. In P. H. Rossi , J. D. Wright , & A. B. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of survey research (pp. 21-67). New York: Academic Press.

13.

Kish, L. (1965). Survey sampling. New York: Wiley.

14.

Lazarus, R. S. , & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, apprasal, and coping. New York: Springer.

15.

Lehman, D. R. , & Taylor, S. E. (1988). Date with an earthquake: Coping with a probable, unpredictable disaster. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 546-555.

16.

Mileti, D. S. , Farhar, B. C. , & Fitzpatrick, C. (1990). How to issue and manage public earthquake risk information: Lessons from the Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment Fort Collins: Hazards Assessment Laboratory and Department of Sociology, Colorado State University.

17.

Mileti, D. S. , & Fitzpatick, C. (1992). The causal sequence of risk communication in the Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment. Risk Analysis, 12, 393-400.

18.

Mileti, D. S. , & O'Brien, P. (1992). Warnings during disaster: Normalizing communicated risk. Social Problems, 39, 40-57.

19.

Mulilis, J.-P. , & Duval, T. S. (1991, July 10-12). The impact of recent nearby earthquakes on individual earthquake preparedness. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the International Conference on the Impact of Natural Disasters. University of California, Los Angeles.

20.

Mulilis, J.-P. , & Lippa, R. (1990). Behavioral change in earthquake preparedness due to negative threat appeals: A test of protection motivation theory. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20(Part 1), 619-638.

21.

Perry, R. W. , & Greene, M. R. (1983). Citizen response to volcanic eruptions: The case of Mount St. Helens. New York: Irvington.

22.

Rosenstock, I. M. (1974). The health belief model and preventive health behavior. Health Education Monograph, 2, 354-386.

23.

Sudman, S. (1983). Applied sampling. In P. H. Rossi , J. D. Wright , & A. B. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of survey research (pp. 145-194). New York: Academic Press.

24.

Turner, R. H. , Nigg, J. M. , & Heller-Paz, D. (1986). Waiting for disaster. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Actions before and after Two Earthquakes

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References