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Resource-Constrained Information Management: Providing Governments with Information for Earthquake Preparedness

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Abstract

This study seeks to attain a better understanding of the information that is required by governments to prepare for earthquakes, and of the constraints they face in obtaining this information. The contributions of the study are two-fold. A survey that was conducted among those responsible for earthquake preparedness actions in different governmental agencies and at different levels revealed on the one hand a desire for information on a broad range of topics, but on the other hand that no resources were allocated in practice to gather this information. A Geographic Information System-based process that was developed following the survey, allowed the required information on seismic hazards and loss and damage risks to be rapidly collected, mapped and integrated. This supported the identification of high-priority areas, for which a more detailed analysis could be initiated. An implementation of the process showed promise, and confirmed its feasibility. Its relative simplicity may ensure that an earthquake preparedness process is initiated by governments that are otherwise reluctant to allocate resources for this purpose.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Amos Salamon for clarifications regarding the geological topics. We thank the members of the National Steering Committee for Earthquake Preparedness for their participation in the survey, and for commenting on the objectives of the present research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Michael Vatenmacher & Tal Svoray

  2. Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Shabtai Isaac

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  1. Michael Vatenmacher
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  2. Shabtai Isaac
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  3. Tal Svoray
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Correspondence to Shabtai Isaac.

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Vatenmacher, M., Isaac, S. & Svoray, T. Resource-Constrained Information Management: Providing Governments with Information for Earthquake Preparedness. Environmental Management 59, 762–776 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0828-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0828-1

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