Tsunami risk perception in southern Italy: first evidence from a sample survey

Abstract. The Italian Tsunami Alert Centre of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Centro di Allerta Tsunami, hereinafter CAT-INGV) supported a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey to investigate tsunami risk perception in two pilot regions of southern Italy. The survey was carried out on a stratified sample of 1021 interviewees representing about 3.2 million people living in 183 coastal municipalities of the two regions, namely Calabria and Apulia. The main goal of this research is to verify whether and how people's perception of tsunami hazard compares to the results of (PTHA) – probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (TSUMAPS-NEAM project; Basili et al., 2018). As shown by the results of this project, both investigated regions are characterised by high tsunami hazard. Nonetheless, the long return time of such events could lead people to consider the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea to be very unlikely. The survey results reveal that people's risk perception is low: for almost half of the whole sample the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea is considered quite unlikely, with a clear difference between Apulia and Calabria. In the latter region the risk perception is much higher than in the former, probably due to the shorter time elapsed since the last event. Also, belonging to different coastal areas1 appears to have a significant influence on the way tsunami hazard is conceived, having a stronger effect on risk characterisation: the interviewees of Tyrrhenian Calabria are indeed more likely to associate tsunami risk with volcanoes than the Ionian citizens. This is coherent considering the presence of active volcanoes and related tsunami precedents in the Tyrrhenian. Television emerged as the most relevant source of knowledge for almost 90 % of the sample, and the influence of media also results in the way tsunami risk is characterised. In particular, the survey showed that people's perception and understanding of tsunamis are affected by media accounts of large events, such as the 2004 Sumatra and the 2011 Japan tsunamis. At the same time, it is evident that the risk posed by smaller events is underrated. Furthermore, the survey's results show that the word “tsunami” occupies a different semantic space in comparison to the Italian traditional headword maremoto, with differences among sample strata. In other words, the same physical phenomenon would be understood in two different ways by younger, educated people and elders with a low education level. The results of this study, although limited to two regions, provide a first assessment of tsunami risk perception in Italy, also entailing important consequences for both risk communication practice and mitigation policies.

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Tsunami risk perception in Southern Italy: first evidence from a sample survey

10.5194/nhess-2019-97 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Andrea Cerase ◽

Massimo Crescimbene ◽

Federica La Longa ◽

Alessandro Amato

Keyword(s):

Risk Perception ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Tsunami Hazard ◽

Sample Survey ◽

Civil Protection ◽

North East ◽

Tsunami Risk ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Way

Abstract. According to a deep-rooted conviction, the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea would be very rare. However, in addition to the catastrophic event of Messina and Reggio Calabria (1908) and the saved danger for the tsunami occurred on Cycladic sea in 1956, 44 events are reported in the Mediterranean Sea between 1951 and 2003, and other smaller tsunamis occurred off Morocco, Aegean and Ionian seashores between 2017 and 2018. Such events, that are just a little part of the over 200 historically events reported for the Mediterranean (Maramai, Brizuela & Graziani, 2014) should remind geoscientists, civil protection officers, media and citizens that 1) tsunami hazard in the Mediterranean is not negligible, and 2) tsunamis come in all shapes and colours, and even a small event can result in serious damages and loss of lives and properties. Recently, a project funded by the European Commission (TSUMAPS-NEAM, Basili et al., 2018) has estimated the tsunami hazard due to seismic sources in the NEAM region (one of the four ICG coordinated by the UNESCO IOC) finding that a significant hazard is present in most coasts of the area, particularly in those of Greece and Italy. In such a scenario, where low probability and high uncertainty match with poor knowledge and familiarity with tsunami hazard, risk mitigation strategies and risk communicators should avoid undue assumptions about public’s supposed attitudes and preparedness, as these may results in serious consequences for the exposed population, geoscientists, and civil protection officers. Hence, scientists must carefully shape their messages and rely on well-researched principled practices rather than on good intuitions (Bostrom, & Löfstedt, 2003). For these reasons, the Centro Allerta Tsunami of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (hereinafter CAT-INGV) promoted a survey to investigate tsunami’s risk perception in two pilot regions of Southern Italy, Calabria and Apulia, providing a stratified sample of 1021 interviewees representing about 3.2mln people living in 183 coastal municipalities of two regions subjected (along with Sicily) to relatively high probability to be hit by a tsunami. Results show that people’s perception and understanding of tsunami are affected by media accounts of large tsunamis of 2004 (Sumatra) and 2011 (Tohoku, North East Japan): television emerged as the most relevant source of knowledge for almost 90 % of the sample, and the influence of media also results in the way tsunami risk is characterized. Risk perception appears to be low: for almost half of the sample the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean sea is considered quite unlikely. Furthermore, the survey’s results show that the word tsunami occupies a different semantic space with respect to the Italian traditional headword maremoto, with differences among sample strata. In other words, the same physical phenomenon would be understood in two different ways by younger, educated people and elders with low education level. Also belonging to different coastal areas appears to have a significant influence on the way tsunami hazard is conceived, having a stronger effect on risk characterization, for instance the interviewees of Tyrrhenian Calabria are more likely to associate tsunami risk to volcanoes with respect to other considered coastlines. The results of this study provide a relevant account of the issues at a stake, also entailing important implication both for risk communication and mitigation policies.

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Tsunami risk perception in Central and Southern Italy, 2021

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16064 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lorenzo Cugliari ◽

Massimo Crescimbene ◽

Andrea Cerase ◽

Alessandro Amato ◽

Loredana Cerbara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Perception ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Risk Mitigation ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Scientific Data ◽

Tsunami Hazard ◽

Tyrrhenian Sea ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Tsunami Risk ◽

Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment

The tsunami risk perception survey is promoted by the Tsunami Alert Centre of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, operating within the Italian System for Tsunami Alert (SiAM) with the Civil Protection Department and ISPRA, and acting as Tsunami Service Provider in the NEAMTWS.Conducting studies on tsunami risk perception is important in order to obtain data on population&#8217;s knowledge and awareness, and understanding people&#8217;s perception of tsunami risk. These data are going to be added to those from two previous surveys on tsunami risk perception being issued in 2018 and 2020, to integrate the available knowledge on these issues and will provide publics, experts and policy makers with relevant tools to implement risk mitigation policies.&#160;The third phase of the survey was completed in January 2021, administering a total of 4,207 questionnaires to the population living on the coastal areas of Sicily, Campania, Latium and Sardinia, in addition to the 1,635 interviewees considered in previous surveys.The survey used a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of 27 items, with closed alternative questions, and four sets of Likert scale questions. The questionnaire was optimized for CATI administration, taking into account the need for conciseness and comprehensibility of the questions.All the studied regions are located in the central Mediterranean basin (including central and southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Sardinian Sea, Sicily Channel), some of which are characterized by high tsunami hazard, and in some cases they have been affected by recorded tsunamis in a close or distant past. Some regions are located in areas where potential seismic tsunami sources are present, others surround waters where active volcanoes exist, both on islands (such as Stromboli, Vulcano) and below the sea (Marsili, Palinuro).&#160;In addition, the four studied regions have a high risk exposure due to the high density of population living on, or visiting the coastal areas for tourism. In the areas where the questionnaire was administered, five highly populated regional capitals are located, including Palermo, Messina, Naples, Rome and Cagliari, together with other important towns (such as Catania, Siracusa, Trapani, Salerno, Olbia etc.). Moreover, the coastal shores involved in the survey, live of a significant tourist affluence in the summer period (and not only), with many tourist facilities and large hotels located along the coasts.The survey's main aim is to analyze the perception of tsunami risk by the coastal population and to correlate levels of tsunami risk perception with scientific data from probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA) for the considered coastal area. We will present some preliminary results of this last survey, with a comparison with the previous analyses on other regions in southern Italy.

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United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2240, 2312 & 2380

International Legal Materials ◽

10.1017/ilm.2018.6 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 163-179

Author(s):

Andreas Schloenhardt

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Security Council ◽

Southern Italy ◽

United Nations Security Council ◽

Member States ◽

Irregular Migrants ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The United Nations ◽

One Year

In response to the large number of irregular migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to southern Italy, frequently using overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels, and often facilitated by migrant smugglers, on October 9, 2015, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 2240. This resolution authorizes member states to intercept, inspect, and seize vessels suspected of being used to smuggle migrants or to traffic persons. Initially limited to one year, these measures were renewed through two further UNSC resolutions on October 6, 2016, and October 5, 2017.

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History with Geography (Gogol on the Way to the Holy Land)

Studia Litterarum ◽

10.22455/2500-4247-2021-6-1-170-191 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 170-191

Author(s):

Victor M. Guminsky

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Holy Land ◽

Factual Information ◽

Average Speed ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

In The Beginning ◽

The Way

The article makes an attempt to specify the actual routes of Gogol’s sea voyage in the Mediterranean Sea on his way to the Holy Land in the beginning of 1848 and to analyze the available data about his possible routes (in comparison to other Russian pilgrims). The author attempts to verify the authenticity of some data shared by Gogol whose reputation of an inventor and hoaxer among his contemporaries was not accidental. The article questions the tentative Gogol’s pilgrimage to the Corfu Island (Kerkira) to pray before the relics of St. Spyridon of Trimython and an extraordinary event that happened there: a miracle that provided an evident proof against one Englishman’s skepticism who had suggested that the relics’ incorruptibility was fabricated. Gogol’s story about the “Englishman’s disgrace” was retold by two of his contemporaries, and these reports are acknowledged by some modern researchers as truthful. However, the author of this essay believes there are some reasons to mistrust these sources as accurate. The data used for this purpose was taken from the published materials and archive sources but also bears on factual information, such as distances between different geographical points and the average speed of steamships in the middle of the 19 th century.

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Towards a "Mediterranean model" of science communication

Journal of Science Communication ◽

10.22323/2.03030904 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 03 (03) ◽

pp. F04

Author(s):

Pietro Greco

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Science Communication ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Way

Can (and should) there be a "Mediterranean model" of science communication? For those of us who work in the field of science communication in a country which is on the Mediterranean Sea, this has always been a question that spontaneously leaps to mind. This is because we "feel" there is something intangible in our way of communicating science that is rather similar to the way of a French, Spanish (or even Brazilian) colleague of ours, whereas it is slightly different from that of an American or British one. And yet, the more in depth this question is studied in time, the more complex the answer becomes.

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Tsunami risk perception along the Tyrrhenian coasts of Southern Italy: the case of Marsili volcano

Natural Hazards ◽

10.1007/s11069-019-03652-x ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (1) ◽

pp. 437-454 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gravina Teresita ◽

Mari Nicola ◽

Farina Luca ◽

Calabria Pierfrancesco

Keyword(s):

Risk Perception ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Tsunami Risk

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Zsyłki biskupów katolickich w afrykańskim państwie Wandalów w relacji Wiktora z Wity

Vox Patrum ◽

10.31743/vp.4241 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 56 ◽

pp. 517-525

Author(s):

Ireneusz Milewski

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

North Africa ◽

Negative Attitude ◽

Fifth Century ◽

Physical Work ◽

Religious Policy ◽

Catholic Clergy ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Way ◽

Catholic Bishops

The above article discusses one of the aspects of the Vandals’ religious policy in Africa, that is, deportations of Catholic bishops ordered by the Vandal kings. Of course, the Vandal kings were Arians and the fact itself defined their attitude towards Catholic clergy in North Africa, which they occupied. Describing the background of these deportations, their course and other repression which befell Catholic clergy (and the faithful) in Africa in the middle of the fifth century, we can only rely on the sources of Catholic authors, who had a negative attitude to the Vandals and their leaders. They portrayed them as crude and bloodthirsty tyrants, or even as psychopaths. Discussing the deportations of bishops in the reign of Genseric and Huneric, the background of the events was also presented. It was deduced that the underlying reason for the persecution of Catholics was the Vandals’ urge to consolidate their power in Africa. The bishops deprived of their seats were deported by the Vandal kings to Numidia (to the grounds controlled by the Moors) or to the islands of the Mediterranean Sea (Corsica, Sardegna) which belonged to the Vandals’ state. There they were forced to hard physical work (work on the land, cutting down trees used to build ships). Many of them, however, did not reach the assigned places of exile – they died on the way from physical exhaustion.

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Evaluating Cultural Routes for a Network of Competitive Cities in the Mediterranean Sea: The Eastern Monasticism in Western Mediterranean Area

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1073-1076.1418 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1073-1076 ◽

pp. 1418-1422 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Francesco Calabrò ◽

Daniele Campolo ◽

Giuseppina Cassalia ◽

Carmela Tramontana

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

General Assembly ◽

Mediterranean History ◽

Geographical Position ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The One ◽

Cultural Routes

Calabria region (Southern Italy) has become the nerve center of historical events, decisive for the Mediterranean sea destiny, because of its geographical position, its centrality in the Mediterranean area, the peculiarities of the district and the wealth of natural resources. The effects of its role in the Mediterranean history are still visible in its natural, urban and social structure, thus giving the region a large number of cultural and environmental values, which find root in the three preceding millennia. The paper, starting from the most historic routes that have affected the Calabrian coast, aims to highlight the one that has the greatest impact on the culture of the region trying to figure out if it is possible to identify, protect and promote a cultural route according to the ICOMOS Charter of Cultural Routes criteria, devised by the ICOMOS’ international Scientific Committee of Cultural Routes (CIIC) and ratified by the 16th General Assembly of ICOMOS, in Quebec (Canada), October 4, 2008.

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From Seismic Monitoring to Tsunami Warning in the Mediterranean Sea

Seismological Research Letters ◽

10.1785/0220200437 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alessandro Amato ◽

Antonio Avallone ◽

Roberto Basili ◽

Fabrizio Bernardi ◽

Beatriz Brizuela ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Tsunami Warning ◽

Member States ◽

The North ◽

Last Mile ◽

North Eastern ◽

Tsunami Risk ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Tsunami Warnings

Abstract The Italian Tsunami Alert Center based at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (CAT-INGV) has been monitoring the Mediterranean seismicity in the past 8 yr to get fast and reliable information for seismically induced tsunami warnings. CAT-INGV is a tsunami service provider in charge of monitoring the seismicity of the Mediterranean Sea and of alerting Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)/UNESCO subscriber Member States and the Italian Department of Civil Protection of a potentially impending tsunami, in the framework of the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAMTWS). CAT-INGV started operating in 2013 and became operational in October 2016. Here, after describing the NEAMTWS in the framework of the global effort coordinated by IOC/UNESCO, we focus on the tsunami hazard in the Mediterranean Sea. We then describe CAT-INGV mandate, functioning, and operational procedures. Furthermore, the article discusses the lessons learned from past events occurring in the Mediterranean Sea, such as the Kos-Bodrum in 2017 (Mw 6.6) and the Samos-Izmir in 2020 (Mw 7.0) earthquakes, which generated moderately damaging tsunamis. Based on these lessons, we discuss some potential improvements for the CAT-INGV and the NEAMTWS, including better seismic and sea level instrumental coverage. We emphasize the need for tsunami risk awareness raising, better preparation, and full implementation of the tsunami warning “last-mile” to foster the creation of a more integrated, interoperable, and sustainable risk reduction framework. If we aim to be better prepared for the next tsunami, these important challenges should be prioritized in the agenda of the IOC/UNESCO Member States and the European Commission.

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