Paper:
Views over last 60 days: 829
A Primary Assessment of Society-Based Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Kabul City, Afghanistan
Mohammad Kazem Naseri*,† and Dongshik Kang**
*Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus
1 Senbaru, Nishihara-cho, Nakagami-gun, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan
†Corresponding author
**Department of Information Engineering, University of the Ryukyus, Japan
Received:January 27, 2016Accepted:January 10, 2017Published:February 1, 2017
Keywords:society-based earthquake disaster mitigation, disaster prevention education, Kabul Afghanistan
Abstract
A questionnaire-based survey was carried out in the 13th district of Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. For this purpose, 10 high schools, both private and public, were selected randomly. A total of 324 participants responded to the questions in the questionnaire. From the total respondents, 127 (39.2%) were female and 197 (60.8%) male; all were in the 15 to 25 age range. Most of the students (75%) had experienced an earthquake, but their perceptions and knowledge about earthquake mitigation were not good as over 50% did not know what to do during an earthquake. Regarding the current situation, 64% responded that disaster education had not been included in their school curricula. The wide participation and strong interest of the students in this survey are expected to foster further research and investigation, as the majority of them (70%) were in a position to transfer their knowledge about earthquake disaster mitigation to their families. Based on the survey findings, despite the contribution of students who had already experienced disaster education outside of Afghanistan, students’ disaster mitigation knowledge was undeniably poor. There is a clear need to establish and plan for the disaster prevention education system in Afghanistan. There is a lack of understanding regarding effective behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge. This problem was probably caused by the absence of disaster education, teaching materials, and expert staff. Therefore, it is highly recommended to integrate disaster prevention education into school curricula, reduce the earthquake risk by sharing disaster information through students’ parent council meetings at schools, and improve public awareness in order to create a society that is resilient to earthquakes.
Cite this article as:M. Naseri and D. Kang, “A Primary Assessment of Society-Based Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Kabul City, Afghanistan,” J. Disaster Res., Vol.12 No.1, pp. 158-162, 2017.Data files:
References- [1] Tuswadi and T. Hayashi, “Disaster Prevention Education in Merapi Volcano Area Primary schools,” Procedia Environmental Sciences, Vol.20, pp. 668-677, 2014.
- [2] S. Ozkazanc and U. D. Yuksel, “Evaluation of disaster awareness and sensitivity level of higher education students,” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol.197, pp. 745-753, 2015.
- [3] United Nations for International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Disaster Prevention for schools Guidance for Education sector decision-makers, 2008.
- [4] Eropean commission, directorate-general humanitarian aid and civil protection (ECHO), A-strategy, Policy and Int. Co-operation. Ares, 3773197-19/12/2013, 2013.
- [5] R. L. Wheeler, C. G. Bufe, Margo L. Johnson, and R. L. Dart, “Seismotectonic Map of Afghanistan, with Annotated Bibliography,” Open-File Report 2005-1264, USGS Afghanistan Project Product No.011, 2005.
- [6] Educational facilities and risk management, Natural disaster, OECD, 2004.
