The impact of a national earthquake campaign on public preparedness: 2011 campaign in Israel as a case study

Objective The most effective way to reduce the number of expected victims and amount of damage from earthquakes is by effective preparedness. The Israeli government launched a national campaign to change its citizens' behavior. This study assessed the effectiveness of the campaign on the Israeli population. Methods The survey was conducted 2 weeks after the campaign ended. It was based on a randomly selected representative sample of the adult Israeli population. Results Of the 42% of the Israeli public exposed to the campaign, 37% estimated that a strong earthquake might occur in Israel during the coming years. Only 23% of those who were exposed to the campaign (9% of the Israeli public) said that the campaign improved their awareness; 76% reported that after their exposure to the campaign they did nothing to prepare. However, exposure to the campaign significantly increased the knowledge of dealing with earthquakes (30% vs 21% among those not exposed). Conclusions Although the campaign increased knowledge and awareness, it did not achieve the goal of improving public preparedness. The campaign was not effective by itself, and it should be part of a multiyear activity.