Seismic risk knowledge sources and perception: The case of preparatory school students in Mexico City

The chapter presents the results related to the preferred sources of information related to Risk, Hazard and Natural disaster. Also, some results of seismic risk perception and the preferred sources of education on seismic risk are presented. The sample size of the cross-sectional study was N = 1489 that included six Preparatory school located in Mexico City. The main findings of the study have been the following: a) overall, the results show that the students are well aware of the words ‘Hazard’ (99.6%, Mean = 2.00, SD = 0.063), ‘Risk’ (99.5%, Mean = 2.00, SD = 0.069), and ‘Natural disaster’ (99.2%, Mean = 2.00, SD = 0.118); b) the main source of information associated with the term ‘Risk’ (Mean = 3.27, SD = 0.891) was the “School.” The term ‘Natural disaster’, on the other hand, has been found to be “TV” (Mean = 1.87, SD = 0.334); c) regarding the participants’ knowledge on the three seismic zones of the Capital City, the overwhelming majority of them did not know this fact (89.1%, Mean = 1.10, SD = 0.294); d) students perceived that an earthquake could occur “At any time” (86.9%, Mean = 4.72, SD = 0.816); e) students prefer to learn more on seismic risk by the following sources and in this particular order: “Civil protection” (44%), “School” (22%), and “Internet” (20%); f) In general, the participants of the study showed a lack of knowledge on seismic risk (see c) above), even though, they are well aware that an earthquake could happen at any time (see d) above). It is hoped that the preliminary results presented here may serve as the basis for a more in-depth analysis, for example, of mass media, social networks related to earthquakes, in the context of the Mexican culture. The paper gives an account of an ongoing research project.