Illusions of safety
Subtitle: culture and earthquake hazard response in California and Japan
By: Risa Palm and John Carroll.
Contributors: Carroll, John.
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Boulder, Colo
Language: eng
Number of pages: 119
Subjects: Earthquakes -- California -- Public opinion; Earthquakes -- Japan -- Public opinion; Earthquakes -- California -- Safety measures -- Public opinion; Earthquakes -- Japan -- Safety measures -- Public opinion; Earthquake hazard analysis -- California; Earthquake hazard analysis -- Japan; Disaster relief -- California -- Planning -- Public opinion; Disaster relief -- Japan -- Planning -- Public opinion
Description: Illusions of Safety surveys the cultural influences on responses to earthquake risk in both the United States and Japan. The attitudes of Japanese and Californian respondents are compared and analyzed for their shaping of individual responses to earthquakes.

Survey responses and the authors' firsthand experience of the reactions to the Kobe, Japan, earthquake in 1995 and the Northridge, California, earthquake are presented and show that the Japanese generally prefer a communal approach to earthquake response whereas Americans (more specifically Californians) place more emphasis on household self-sufficiency. The authors examine how these reactions influence public policy for earthquake preparedness and response in each country.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [104]-113) and index.