GNGTS 2024 - Atti del 42° Convegno Nazionale

Session 2.3 GNGTS 2024 Tsunami risk percepton of the touristc populaton of Stromboli Island: towards efectve risk communicaton strategies I. Moreschini 1 , L. Cugliari 1,2 , L. Cerbara 3 , F. La Longa 1 , M. Crescimbene 1 ,A. Amato 1 1 Natonal Insttute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Rome, Italy 2 Department of Communicaton and Social Research, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy 3 Insttute for Research on Populaton and Social Policies, Natonal Research Council, Rome, Italy Abstract Stromboli volcanic island has experienced six mass-fow induced tsunamis since 1916, accountng for more than a third of the tsunamis recorded in the Aeolian Islands in internatonal catalogs (Maramai et al., 2019). Among these, the 2002 tsunami triggered by a collapse on the Sciara del Fuoco highlighted the need for efectve risk mitgaton measures, promptng universites’ and research centers' eforts for volcanic and tdal monitoring of the island. Beyond probabilistc modeling of tsunamis and warning systems, efectve disaster response relies signifcantly on studies of tsunami risk percepton to improve communicaton and preparedness of communites most exposed to tsunami risk. Among these, transient populatons such as tourists hold partcular signifcance in risk percepton studies, as their needs intersect with those of the local populaton, necessitatng consideratons in planning risk mitgaton measures. As tourism atracted by the volcano is the primary revenue source for the island‘s community, steps are to be taken to ensure the industry's sustainability over tme and prevent collapses due to exogenous shocks (Orchiston, 2011). Methodology As part of the B2 Stromboli Project (DPC-INGV Agreement 2022-2023), a specifc research task was funded to investgate the fundamental knowledge of tourists and the resident populaton to develop solid risk communicaton strategies. A multlingual survey (n = 699) was conducted between July and September 2023 to assess tourists' risk percepton and preparedness. A web- based survey instrument was chosen to allow respondents fexibility in completng the survey, and both sampling and selecton errors must be considered when interpretng the data. (Moreschini et al. submited) Indicators of tsunami risk percepton were developed to gather respondent percepton of concepts derived from studies on probabilistc assessment of tsunami hazard (Basili et al., 2018) and quanttatve assessment of risk (Cadorna et al., 2012) helping the identfcaton of areas for risk communicaton interventon, in terms of both target and content. Results Results indicate that tourists correctly recognize Stromboli as subject to a relatvely higher probability of being hit by a tsunami than most of the Mediterranean Sea but underestmate the overall hazard to which they are exposed. Tourists’ representatons ofen mischaracterize tsunamis, overlooking safety threats posed by smaller events and revealing defciencies in current communicaton approaches.