Citation

Crozier M, McClure J, Vercoe J, Wilson M. Area 2006; 38(2): 143-152.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1475-4762.2006.00686.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which people's views on the causes and preventability of earthquake damage might be influenced by their degree of exposure to hazard as well as what information they have been given about the hazard. The results show that the provision of hazard zoning information influences judgements on preventability and causes of damage, but this effect depends on the degree of hazard faced by residents. In low hazard zones, information leads to the view that causes are manageable, whereas in high hazard zones information may induce a degree of fatalism. The use of public information in risk management needs to take into account the degree of risk faced by the recipients.