Communicating seismic risk: experiences from launching the Swiss and the European seismic risk models

Seismic risk describes the potential consequences of future earthquakes in terms of human and financial losses. As such, seismic risk models provide information that is crucial for earthquake mitigation and emergency response. For these models to be effective, their results must be accessible and comprehensible to a wide range of stakeholders including the general public. To achieve this, we applied a transdisciplinary approach to design and evaluate key outreach materials including seismic risk maps, scenario and rapid impact information. We conducted two representative online surveys with the general public (N₁=580; N₂=593), an online survey with students of European universities (N₃=83), seven interviews with experts developing rapid impact assessments, and three workshops with about 150 representatives from cantonal authorities, first responders, and civil protection.

Although the initial product designs were well received by the target groups, which we attribute to the close interdisciplinary collaboration during the design process, they have been significantly improved based on user feedback. This enhanced stakeholders’ understanding and the usability of the products. For example, the insights from the user testing led to a new preferred colour scheme and legend for the seismic risk map and in a new standard for displaying loss distributions in rapid impact assessments. In this talk, we will present the strategy elaborated for designing useful seismic risk information and provide insights to key findings from our accompanying research using the examples of the Swiss and European seismic risk model releases in 2022 and 2023.