Abstract
The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused more than 220,000 casualties and over $10 billion worth of damage, with the extent of the latter attributed to a lack of knowledge about tsunamis, given their rarity in this area. Questionnaire surveys on tsunami awareness were carried out among 1,000 residents in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, respectively, since the coastlines of these countries were some of the most severely damaged regions of the Indian Ocean. The purpose was to assess and evaluate the capacity of communities to respond to natural disasters. Additionally, a comparative analysis was carried out to identify the regional differences in tsunami risk perceptions, based on which people adjust their behavior and judgment. Careful consideration was given to differences in sociocultural backgrounds throughout the study, especially when quantitatively analyzing results and interpreting the implications and overall trends revealed several differences among the three countries on the topics studied.
