2006 Volume 8 Pages 289-296
The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused severe damage. It is considered that a lack of knowledge about tsunami is one of the factors to bring on such damage. Questionnaire surveys on tsunami awareness were carried out among 1,000 residents in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, respectively. The purpose of the survey is to assess and evaluate the capacity of communities to respond to natural disasters. Additionally, a comparative analysis has been carried out to identify the regional differences in tsunami risk perception on which people base their behaviors and judgments. Careful consideration has been given to the differences in social and cultural backgrounds throughout the study. The overall trends show that there are several kinds of differences among three countries on the topics studied.
