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Urban earthquake hazard: perceived seismic risk and preparedness in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Paul Bimal Kanti,
Bhuiyan Rejuan Hossain
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2009.01132.x
Subject(s) - respondent , preparedness , poison control , environmental health , questionnaire , unit (ring theory) , risk perception , occupational safety and health , geography , socioeconomics , forensic engineering , medicine , engineering , perception , psychology , political science , social science , mathematics education , pathology , neuroscience , sociology , law
Bangladesh is vulnerable to seismic events. Experts suspect that if an earthquake with a 7.0 magnitude occurred in large cities of Bangladesh, there would be a major human tragedy due to the structural failure of many buildings. The primary objectives of this paper are to examine seismic risk perception among residents of Dhaka City and investigate their levels of earthquake preparedness. A questionnaire survey conducted among 444 residents of the city provided the major source of data for the paper. The survey results suggest that an overwhelming majority of the respondents were not prepared for a major earthquake, which is anticipated to occur in Dhaka. Multivariate analysis of survey data reveals that value of residential unit and respondent educational levels appear as the most significant determinants of preparedness status of the respondents. This study recommends increasing earthquake awareness and preparedness among residents of Dhaka City.