Does non‐destructive earthquake experience affect risk perception and motivate preparedness?

Abstract

Abstract There are thousands of earthquakes every year, but most of them are small and are not disasters. This study explored whether non‐destructive earthquake experience affects public risk perception and motivates preparedness. The study respondents were from the Jiaodong Peninsula, China, where more than 20 small earthquakes have occurred during the past decade. The results show that non‐destructive earthquake experience positively affected public perception of the probability of an earthquake but not the perception of consequences. The relationship between non‐destructive earthquake experience and preparedness intention was not statistically significant. In addition, this study revealed that the perception of consequences was a positive predictor of earthquake preparedness intention, that is people with higher levels of perceived consequences of an earthquake were more likely to be motivated to prepare. However, non‐destructive earthquake experience moderated this relationship, that is weakened the strength of this relationship between perceived consequences and skill preparedness intention. These findings permit the identification of potential pathways to increase levels of disaster preparedness and potential barriers to enhancing disaster resilience in regions experiencing small hazards.