Comment on nhess-2022-212

Abstract

The Tsunami Warning Center of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CAT-INGV) has been promoting, since 2018, the study of tsunami risk perception in Italy. Between 2018 and 2021 the semi-structured questionnaire on the perception of tsunami risk was administered to a sample of 5,842 citizens residing in 450 Italian coastal municipalities, representative of more than 12 million people. The survey was conducted with the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) methodology, described in Cerase et al. (2019) who published the results of the first pilot survey (about 1,000 interviews). The large sample and the socio-demographic stratification give an excellent representation of the resident population in the surveyed Italian coastal municipalities. Moreover, in 2021 an optimized version of the questionnaire was also administered via Telepanel (a tool for collecting proportional and representative opinions of citizens) representative of the Italian population, which included 1,500 people distributed throughout the country. In this work we present the main results of the three survey phases, with a comparison among the eight surveyed regions, and between the coastal regions and some coastal metropolitan cities involved in the investigations (Rome, Naples, Bari, Reggio Calabria and Catania). Data analysis reveals heterogeneous and generally low tsunami risk perception. Some seaside, in fact, show a good perception of tsunami risk while others, such as in Apulia and Molise, reveal a lower perception, most likely due to the long time elapsed since the last event and the lack of memory. We do not find relevant differences related to the socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender) of the sample, whereas the education degree appears to affect people’s perception. The survey shows that the respondents’ predominant source of information on tsunamis is the television and other media sources (such us newspapers, books, films, internet etc.) while the official sources (e.g. civil protection, local authorities, universities and research institutes) do not contribute significantly. Also, we found an interesting difference in people’s understanding of the words tsunami and maremoto, the local term commonly used in Italy until the 2004 Sumatra event, which should be taken into account in scientific and risk communication. The nationwide sample shows lower tsunami risk perception compared to the average of the coastal sample, confirming the need for thorough information campaigns directed to tourists. Our results are being used to drive our communication strategy aimed at reducing tsunami risk in Italy, to activate dissemination and educational programs (data driven), to fill the data gap on tsunami risk perception in the NEAMTWS area, and to implement multilevel Civil Protection actions (national and local, top-down and bottom-up). Not least, outputs can address a better development of the Tsunami Ready program in Italy.