Disaster information acquisition by residents of China's earthquake-stricken areas

Abstract

Disaster information acquisition is a research hotspot in disaster risk management. However, most studies focus on residents' access to disaster information at a time point, such as the peak of the disaster. Few studies have considered information channel types and rates of access over the whole period of a disaster; i.e., from before the disaster until after evacuated residents have returned home. This study surveyed residents of 327 households affected by the Wenchuan and Lushan earthquake in Sichuan Province, China. The time chain of residents' disaster information acquisition is divided into five time points(such as 1) before the disaster, 2) when evacuation was decided, 3) when the disaster peaked, 4) after the peak but before the disaster was over, and 5) after the disaster was over), meanwhile, four kinds of the most common information channels are selected(such as government, relatives and friends, mass media, and social media). Rates of disaster information access at each time point were analyzed. The results show that: 1) In the whole period of disaster, social media is the most infrequently used information channel. 2) Relatives and friends is an important source of information. Although it has obvious drawbacks, the frequency of use has always been the highest. 3) When the disaster peaked, government is used more frequently than mass media. 4) In the time chain of disaster information acquisition, the frequency of residents' acquisition of information shows an increasing trend, but its growth rate shows a fluctuating state. The results of this study have important implications for the integration of multiple information channels and the establishment of a disaster information resource sharing system in the vast earthquake-stricken areas.