Seismic risk and safety perception: the April, 6th 2009 earthquake of l'Aquila, Italy

On Monday April 6, 2009, a Mw 6.3 earthquake hit the city of L’Aquila, Italy, leaving 308 deaths and 1500 injured. The extend damages on the built environment left 22,000 people homeless and temporarily displaced another 65,000. Field studies and surveys were carried out in the aftermath of such disaster to clarify local population’s perception of seismic risk, and the adopted mitigation strategies. Pre-impact communication and exchange of earthquake knowledge between the citizens and the governmental organizations, responsible for emergency management, were also analyzed. It emerged that despite the long record of historical earthquakes that struck the region, and the swarm of foreshocks that hit the region since 4 months before the main quake of April 6, the residents of L’Aquila had a rather low seismic risk perception. Prior to the event, very few people acknowledge the possibility that a very strong earthquake could occur in L’Aquila, and even less planned for auto-protective behavior. Also, the traditional knowledge and earthquake myths appeared to have strongly influences people’s perception and response to the seismic event. These findings were also corroborated by a broader survey, executed away from the earthquake region, highlighted an unjustified confidence in the seismic safety of Italy’s built environment (houses and infrastructures in general). In L’Aquila, such a low perception of earthquake risk, and mistaken belief of buildings’ structural resistance, appeared to have inhibited emergency planning at the individual, family and community level. Indeed this false sense of security also reduced dialogues among friends and within families about earthquake mitigation and preparedness strategies. Remarkably, school activities about earthquake risks, initiated during the foreshock period, appeared to have sensibly increase risk awareness among students, who in turn encourage family discussions about earthquake emergency planning and survival strategies. School programs about earthquake risk, backed up by public education campaign, field exercises and drills organized by the local emergency management agencies, could help individuals and household integrating and updating the lingering outdated traditional earthquake knowledge. Vernacular narrative, museum expositions, or itinerant shows could promote education and outreach for seismic risk reduction, foster a culture of safety, and coalesce groups and create earthquake resilient communities.