A Preliminary Temporal Comparative Study on Earthquake Disaster Awareness among People of Mianzhu County, Sichuan Province, China

Improving people 's awareness of earthquake disaster is the basis for enhancing the ability of earthquake prevention and disaster reduction of the whole society. However, existing research remains limited on temporal differences in public awareness of earthquake disasters and on the specific factors driving these changes. To examine whether public awareness of earthquake disasters changes over time following an earthquake, this study uses the Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008, in Sichuan Province, China, as the research background. Based on this event, on-site surveys and return investigations were conducted at two time points—shortly after the earthquake (2008) and 16 years later (2024)—to assess earthquake disaster awareness among junior high school students, senior high school students, secondary school teachers, and parents of secondary school students in Mianzhu County, Sichuan Province, where seismic intensity reached levels VIII-XI. Based on a preliminary comparative analysis of earthquake disaster awareness questionnaires administered at the two time points, the following findings were obtained: from 2008 to 2024, earthquake disaster awareness among people of Mianzhu County, Sichuan Province exhibited both increases and decreases. Specifically, earthquake disaster awareness improved overall among adults, whereas awareness among students remained unchanged or declined, with a notable decline observed among junior high school students. These changes were reflected across the dimensions of knowledge, skills, and attitudes: (1) With respect to earthquake disaster knowledge, students showed an overall decline in their level of understanding, teachers exhibited no substantial change, and parents demonstrated an overall improvement; (2) In terms of disaster mitigation skills and understanding of government actions and measures, all four groups showed overall improvement; (3) Regarding disaster mitigation attitudes, attitudes among adults improved, whereas no noticeable change was observed among students. At the level of individual questionnaire items, these changes were manifested as follows: (i) People in the disaster-affected area showed a significant increase in their awareness of basic earthquake knowledge, fundamental government disaster mitigation policies, and earthquake avoidance precautions; (ii) Adults exhibited significant and varying degrees of improvement in their understanding of government-led earthquake prevention and disaster mitigation efforts, whereas students tended to focus primarily on school-based initiatives (e.g., disaster education, science popularization activities, and emergency drills) and remained largely unaware of other government actions; (iii) Public understanding of secondary earthquake hazards declined markedly, with particularly pronounced decreases observed for barrier lakes and epidemic outbreaks. Through this preliminary temporal comparison of earthquake disaster awareness among disaster-affected populations, key changes across different dimensions of awareness can be identified, thereby providing an empirical basis for developing region-specific and goal-oriented public education and communication strategies.