Public response to news reports on the Mount Kusatsu-Shirane volcanic eruption: A content analysis of online reader comments

Abstract

This paper reports on the real-time public responses to the eruption disaster on Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane in January 2018. This volcanic disaster attracted significant media coverage, with many people again acknowledging the risk of volcanic hazards from the many news reports. These days, as it has become increasingly common for people to express their opinions using online sites, online reader comments can be important sources of public opinion. This paper used a content analysis approach to analyze the comments posted in online news reports on the volcanic disaster to determine the public's perspective of the risks associated with volcanic disasters and volcanology. Applying an inductive category-extraction strategy, the comments were sorted into six categories of comments (1) that made reference to volcanic risk perception, (2) on volcanology or volcanologists, (3) that had fatalistic perceptions of natural disasters as blameless misfortunes, (4) on eruption predictability, (5) on disaster risk reduction measures implemented by central/local governments and disaster management agencies, and (6) explaining the phreatic explosion mechanism. It was found that many comments tended to have a negative tone, and a prominent criticism was that modern science could not detect volcanic activities reliably. However, some commenters suggested that experts with a sophisticated knowledge of volcanology should be available to support local communities in a similar way to the “home doctor”. Volcanologists need to disseminate information, such as the current state of geological and earth science education systems, volcanological knowledge, and application of the lessons learned from volcanic disasters.