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Deaf University Student Experiences With Earthquake Early Warning

Description: 

Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) alerts may give people valuable seconds to take protective action, such as drop, cover and hold on, before earthquake shaking starts. In order for individuals to take protective action, they need to receive the alert, understand the alert message, and have enough contextual knowledge to take appropriate protective action. DHH+ individuals often fail to receive proper alerts and disaster information, making them more vulnerable to severe impacts, such as twice the mortality of hearing indvisuals in large earthquakes (Takayama, 2017). Additionally, inadequate access to earthquake drills and preparedness resources leads to a lack of contextual knowledge needed for appropriate action. The existing gaps in effectiveness of the EEW alerts stem from language inequities for DHH+ persons in our schools, workplaces and families, which we analyze with linguistic anthropological and sociolinguistic frameworks to examine the nexus of DHH+ communities’ languages and EEW messaging.

Conversations with DHH+ persons about their experiences with EEW reveal several gaps in the effectiveness of these alert messages. 1) Cascading risk - Being DHH+ does not ipso facto cause increased vulnerability during earthquakes or other disasters; however, DHH+ people having less access to emergency communication, preparedness information, and training over their lifetimes is compounded by barriers to receiving and understanding alerts not produced in their first language(s), contributing to increased hazard-risk, morbidity-risk, and mortality-risk. 2) Exclusion from disaster alerts - Disaster and EEW alerting systems continue to lag behind the technology-access needs of its users, particularly where DeafBlind persons and other persons with intersecting abilities are concerned. In some cases (as the findings we generated here), this results in complete exclusion from alerts. To advance language equity in EEW alerting, inclusion of DHH+ communities can improve messaging and reduce misunderstandings so that DHH+ persons can quickly take protective action when they receive an alert.

Session: Adventures in Social Seismology: Ethical Engagement, Earthquake Early Warnings, Operational Forecasts, and Beyond - II

Type: Oral

Date: 4/15/2025

Presentation Time: 11:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Michele

Student Presenter: No

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