Earthquake Preparedness First Aid Kit- A Video Series

Students from the UCL Earthquake and People Interaction Centre (EPICentre) will visit the recently earthquake-hit zones of Central Italy, intending to film a series of earthquake preparedness clips.

Strong earthquakes in central Italy between August 2016 and January 2017 caused around 300 casualties, with large destruction of both cultural heritage sites and critical infrastructure. Levels of earthquake preparedness tend to be consistently consistently low across countries and people are generally not ready for action in emergency situations, even in high -risk areas like central Italy.

This project combined field research with public education, producing a video series aiming to improve disaster preparedness, by disseminating technical knowledge clearly and effectively. The 2016 Italian earthquakes constituted a case study through which to describe the actions that can prevent damage before, during and following an earthquake. Suggestions will be scientifically sound and based on knowledge from the field of earthquake engineering. Similarly, behavioural change will be prompted via psychological principles extrapolated from behavioural, social and risk psychology. Clips will be translated in the languages of several earthquake-prone countries.

This is a cross -disciplinary cooperation between the UCL Brain Sciences faculty,the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR) and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (CEGE), supported by UCL EPICentre and the SECED Young Member’s Sub-Committee.