An Analysis on General Peoples' Opinions toward the Impossibility of the Earthquake Prediction

Abstract

In this paper, we considered the general peoples' opinions toward the impossibility of the earthquake prediction. It may be laid down as a public feeling that most of people desire that somebody, such as some competent administrative body, declare how big, when and where the next great earthquake will occur. On the other hand, the Cabinet Office proposed the view that the earthquake prediction is impossible at this point in time, in May 2012. It is clear that the above government's official view is exactly the opposite of the above public feeling. Therefore, it is supposed that many people will show a negative reaction to the above government's official view, and that the risk communication regarding with the earthquake prediction between the public and the government broke down.

As a result of the verification by using a questionnaire survey, we received valuable suggestions that the above public feeling may be one of the causes for the negative reaction to the above government's official view.