Adolescents’ Responses to the 2017 Puebla Earthquake in Mexico City

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a cross-sectional study on adolescents’ behavioral and emotional reactions during and immediately after the 2017 Puebla earthquake that occurred in Mexico City. Convenience sampling was used to achieve a sample size of n=362. Some of the key findings are as follows: a) some 57.0% of adolescent women and over 60.0% of men “ran out of the building” during the earthquake; only 17.4% of women and 14.2% of men took shelter. Early and late adolescent women were significantly associated with building “evacuation” immediately after the earthquake. b) Early and late adolescent men were “surprised” by the earthquake occurrence. c) The perceived vulnerability of the city (PVC) was significantly associated with men but not with women. d) Adolescents exhibited strong information-seeking behavior regarding seismic risk. The results of the study highlight a lack of adolescents’ preparedness for earthquakes in terms of the protective actions taken during the ground shaking and knowledge of the functioning of the Mexican seismic alert system. An educational program aimed at better educating and preparing adolescents for a seismic emergency should be implemented in preparatory schools.