Summary:
This study focuses on the identification of natural hazards in Kifissia area
and the selection of the most important for risk perception assessment. Risk
perception affects on the capacity of the community, which is a factor reducing
vulnerability and, therefore, risk from a natural hazard. Seismic hazard was
selected (instead of flood or wildfire), due to the fact that the area has
twice been stricken by major earthquakes (1981 and 1999), and suffered severe
damages and victims. Literature indicates the questionnaire method as
appropriate for the assessment, so a questionnaire study was designed, tested
and applied on the six sectors, which the study area was divided into. Through
five groups of questions, risk perception, public awareness and preparedness
were investigated, along with demographic data and knowledge and experience of
the phenomenon. Respective indexes were calculated for each of these features,
so that results can be comparable among the sectors and the method can be
transferable to other regions. Although there is significant and explainable
diversity of the results among the sectors, the general picture for Kifissia is
that risk perception is relatively high, in contrast to public awareness and
preparedness which are rather low.
Keywords:
Natural hazards, Seismic hazard, Risk perception, Questionnaire, Kifissia
