Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.
Participants' perception of the most serious hazards produced during a Katla eruption.
Residents' Knowledge and Perception of the Information Meetings on Katla,
Evacuation Plan and Exercise, and Hazard Information in the Media
More than half the participants did not attend information meetings on Katla and the
proposed evacuation plan and exercise. Reasons stated for not attending included:
• Could not attend due to health reasons;
• At work;
• Too busy when they were on; and
• Not interested.
Other people stated they did not attend but others within their household did. For
those that did attend, we enquired whether they found them informative. Only 5% of
participants did not fi nd them informative. Participant perceptions of the meetings
included:
• The simulation and displays were very informative but the sound system was
very bad and therefore I could not hear the talks so well.
• It is good to talk about this and make people aware.
• I found the meetings very informative and now there is direct information on
what to do if something happens. They educated people and now the local peo-
ple should not be as afraid as they know what to do.
• I found the meeting informative but they needed more preparation. The people
in charge lacked knowledge and those presenting the meetings were not the
most experienced. There was no geologist at the last meeting.
• Most of it was nonsense. In the Westman Islands in 1973 everyone had to save
themselves and it worked. Here will be the same.
Sixty nine percent of participants did not receive any evacuation message during
the exercise (Table 3) and of these, 49% did not receive a message to their landline.
When asked if they always carried their mobile phone 68% of participants responded
