Assessing Preparedness Elevated: Seismic Risk Perception and Household Adjustment in Salt Lake City, Utah

Determining household earthquake risk perceptions and adjustments is important for improving our understanding of community preparedness and establishing baselines fro improvements. Greater than 90% of the Utah population lives within 25 km of the Wasatch Fault System (WFS), and a 2012 FEMA report ranked seismic risk in Utah as the 6th highest in the U.S.A. We administered a geocoded, mail-out survey to households located in high-risk ground shaking and liquefaction hazard zones. We examined relationships between adoptions of 13 household adjustments and how respondents perceive risk and responsibility in the context of demographic characteristics, house location, and construction type (e.g. year built, unreinforced masonry (URM) or not, number of floors). Results characterize a population that perceives seismic risk as high, but varies significantly in its preparedness and sense of vulnerability. Further research is needed about how residents obtain information, given that fewer than 10% of respondents were aware of Utah's earthquake preparedness guide.