THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS ON EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI HAZARDS IN MALAYSIA

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2 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS ON EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI HAZARDS IN MALAYSIA Zamuna binti Zainal, Zaty Aktar binti Mokhtar, Chai Mui Fatt, Siti Norbaizura binti Mat Said, Irene Eu Swee Neo and Mohd Rosaidi bin Che Abas ABSTRACT Disaster preparedness is a vital component in the theory of disaster management. By always being prepared, many lives could be spared from being victimized by the disaster. We evaluated the effectiveness of public awareness campaigns on earthquake and tsunami hazards organized by Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) by analyzing questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed to the participants who were mainly government officials in disaster management agencies, community leaders, village heads and local people during the campaign program. From the 568 questionnaires collected and statistically evaluated in 16 campaign locations, we found out that majority of the respondents have a moderate to high level of understanding on the disasters, with more than 60% respondents aware of the disaster risks in their area of residence, and the existence of Malaysian National Tsunami Early Warning System (MNTEWS). Majority of them preferred the mass media, particularly television networks to receive the latest information on the disasters. More than half of the respondents have the knowledge and awareness to act appropriately in the event of any earthquake or tsunami disaster. Majority of the respondents suggested the campaign program to be conducted more frequently, with a wider audience and audienceoriented activities. In general, the public awareness campaign on earthquake and tsunami hazards has been tremendously effective in imparting knowledge and increasing awareness to the people for the past 4 years. Nevertheless, further improvement should be taken to

3 better serve its purpose as a medium for building a resilient community towards earthquake and tsunami hazard in Malaysia. The authors work for Malaysian Meteorological Department, Malaysia

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION Overview of Earthquake and Tsunami Risks in Malaysia Overview of Public Awareness Activities by MMD Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and 6 Extreme Weather Hazards Public Awareness Campaign on Tsunami Siren The Good Practice : Tsunami Drills Purpose of Study DATA Questionnaires METHODOLOGY Methodology for Investigation Analyzing Questionnaire Forms RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Part A : Knowledge and Awareness About Earthquake and Tsunami Part B : Dissemination of Earthquake and Tsunami Information 26 Methods 4.3 Part C : Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Preparation Part D : Comments Discussion and Recommendations Discussion on the Research Findings Discussion on the Questionnaire 40

5 5. CONCLUSION 41 FUTURE PLAN 41 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 42 APPENDICES 43 Appendix-1 43 Appendix-2 44 REFERENCES 48

6 1. INTRODUCTION Various disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, floods and typhoons are natural hazards that kill thousands of people and cause huge economy and property loss each year. The rapid growth of the world's population and its increased concentration often in hazardous environment has escalated both the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Among various natural hazards, earthquakes, landslides, floods and typhoons are the major disasters adversely affecting very large areas and population in the world. Tsunami is another type of natural disaster which does not occur frequently, but able to cause destruction in a massive scale. It is highly unlikely to prevent such natural disasters from happening but efforts can be made to avoid the disasters and reducing their effects on human lives, infrastructure and properties by implementing proper disaster mitigation strategies. According to D. P. Rao, the disaster mitigation works mainly address the following: (i) minimise the potential risks by developing disaster early warning strategies, (ii) prepare and implement developmental plans to provide resilience to such disasters, (iii) mobilise resources including communication and telemedicinal services and (iv) helping in rehabilitation and post-disaster reduction. He also emphasised that disaster management involves: (i) pre-disaster planning, preparedness, monitoring including relief management capability, (ii) prediction and early warning, (iii) damage assessment and relief management. The World Conference on Disaster Reduction held from January 2005 in Kobe, Japan, had resulted in an agreed approach in reducing vulnerabilities and risks to hazards. Hence, the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for Action : Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters by all country is called upon. In every disaster, the worst effect of the disaster is upon the community. Apart from developing a national early warning system and encouraging research activities in developing disaster mitigation strategies, building a resilient community towards disasters is nonetheless important as the community is the firsthand responder to any disaster. In the Malaysian context, the massive tsunami triggered by the great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on 26 December 2004 was definitely unexpected. The first tsunami wave arrived at the islands of Langkawi and 1

7 Penang was 3 hours and 4 hours 32 minutes, respectively (MMD and ASM, 2009) after the earthquake struck under the Indian Ocean, off the west coast of Northern Sumatera. Should Malaysia already have a sound early warning system and have educated the public well about tsunami signs and hazards, many lives would have been saved. 1.1 Overview of the Earthquake and Tsunami Risks in Malaysia Generally, Malaysia is considered as a country with relatively low seismicity profile because tectonically, Malaysia is located in the region of Indosinia-Sundaland, which is considered as a geologically stable condition (Brown area in Figure 1). However, Malaysia is being close to the most seismically active plate boundary between the Indian-Australian and the Eurasian plates to the west. Therefore, Malaysia is facing a certain degree of earthquake risks from both distant and local earthquakes. Peninsular Malaysia has felt tremors from local origin earthquakes (e.g. Bukit Tinggi Earthquakes, Kuala Pilah Earthquakes, Manjung Earthquake, Jerantut Earthquake and Terengganu Earthquake) and large earthquakes occurring at the plate boundary region especially at the Sumatran fault and the subduction zone offshore to the west of Sumatra, Indonesia. East Malaysia, especially Sabah, is also known as earthquake-prone area of Malaysia (Yellow area in Figure 1) as the region is considered moderately active in seismic activities with the existence of at least 13 active faults in Sabah and 3 active faults in Sarawak (JMG, 2006) that have been delineated, and produced weak to moderate local origin earthquakes from 1874 to 2010 with maximum intensity up to VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale (MMD, 2010). The list of frequency and maximum intensity recorded on each state in Malaysia is described in Table 1. These local earthquakes had caused considerable damages to poorly built or badly designed building in the area (e.g Lahad Datu Earthquake, 1991 Ranau Earthquake and 2004 Miri Earthquake). Other than that, East Malaysia has also felt tremors from earthquakes originating from the nearby plate boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate to the east. 2

8 Figure 1: Earthquake-prone region of Malaysia (Tjia, 2008). The mega-thrust earthquake on 26 December 2004 (Red circle in Figure 1), off the north-western part of Sumatera with moment magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale (e.g. Tjia, 2008) had been the largest ever earthquake occurring in the Indian Ocean earthquake history and its tremors were widely felt throughout Peninsular Malaysia. The earthquake had generated an ocean-wide tsunami which had claimed 68 human casualties in the northern states of Peninsula Malaysia (The Star Newspaper, 2005), thousands of people were rendered homeless, and the estimated cost of destroyed properties was about RM100 millions (e.g. Tajul, 2005). Prior to this tsunami, there is inadequate information of past tsunami record which might have occurred in the country. However, the final report of the Seismic and Tsunami Hazards and Risks Study in Malaysia by Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) and Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) in 2009 stated that, the geological records gathered in the aftermath of the 26 December 2004 tsunami indicated that in the past centuries, segments of the Indian Ocean subduction zone experienced sufficiently large earthquakes to have produced substantial tsunamis. As tsunami 3

9 can be generated not just by submarine shallow earthquakes along subduction zones, but also submarine volcanic eruptions and landslides, potential tsunamis could still be occurring and pose a large threat to certain areas in this country. 4

10 Table 1. Earthquake Intensity recorded in Malaysia (MMD, 2010) State Frequency Maximum Intensity (Modified Mercalli Scale) Peninsular Malaysia ( ) Perlis 3 V Kedah 18 V Penang 41 VI Perak 24 VI Selangor 52 VI Negeri Sembilan 14 V Melaka 19 V Johor 32 VI Pahang 35 III Terengganu 2 IV Kelantan 3 IV Kuala Lumpur / Putrajaya 38 VI Sabah ( ) Sabah 41 VII Sarawak ( ) Sarawak 17 VI 5

11 1.2 Overview of Public Awareness Activities by MMD Prior to 2004, there has never been any public awareness campaign on earthquake and tsunami. At that time, the MMD s awareness campaigns were mainly focusing on extreme weather hazards such as flood, haze and forest fires. However, for many, the subsequent tsunami of the 2004 great Sumatran-Andaman earthquake has been the first tsunami experience not just for Malaysians, but the people from other affected countries as well. Most of the people have no prior knowledge of tsunami and its danger and also how to save their lives during a tsunami event. Hence, awareness is always the first step toward action. Awareness can trigger interest, interest can lead to attention, and attention can prompt action. The awareness and drill program will help develop a knowledge bank in each community and stakeholder; therefore it will help promote a culture of sharing knowledge and practical experience on disaster risk reduction. MMD has been organizing and taking part in various public awareness and disaster preparedness programs since 2006 until present. The programs locations were selected among strategic areas where there are possible risks of earthquake and tsunami Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards The Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards (Kempen Kesedaran Awam Mengenai Bencana Gempa Bumi, Tsunami dan Cuaca Ekstrem, in Malay) was commenced in Since then, the public awareness campaign has been the annual program concentrated at earthquake and tsunami-prone areas, such as East Sabah and North West of Peninsular Malaysia. From 2007 until 2010, MMD, in collaboration with the National Security Council (NSC), had successfully conducted campaigns in 35 locations throughout the country with the participation of more than 5,000 people from the community, government and private agencies as well as media (Figures 2(a) 2(b)). 6

12 Figure 2(a). The public awareness campaign locations in Peninsular Malaysia. 7

13 Figure 2(b). The public awareness campaign locations in East Malaysia. Tsunami occurrences, especially in Malaysia are very rare and the public has to be constantly reminded through such awareness programs to be able to identify signs for an impending tsunami and seek safety. MMD and NSC will continue to organize the drill exercises and awareness campaigns involving coastal communities at high-risk areas to ensure that the evacuation time is shortened further. Other than making this campaign program as a mean for imparting information and knowledge, the programs also serve as a platform for exchanging experience, having a fruitful discussion and also acquiring feedbacks from the disaster management agencies and the community. All this information will be the base of improvement for the weather and tsunami warning systems by MMD to the public during the time of disasters. The program also helped raise and promote awareness on safety and disaster risk reduction in Malaysia. 8

14 This particular public awareness program is constructed as a half day campaign with minutes lectures each by Mineral and Geosciences Department (JMG), MMD and NSC, and related video presentation and exhibitions by participating agencies. Each agency is responsible to talk about their specially designated topics; Explanation of Earthquake by JMG, Earthquake and Tsunami Hazard and The Malaysian National Tsunami Early Warning System and Extreme Weather in Malaysia and Extreme Weather Warning by MMD and Disaster Management in Malaysia Its Issues and Challenges by NSC. A forum is conducted with 5 panelist representing the NSC, Royal Malaysian Police, Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia, Health Department Malaysia and Social Welfare Department of Malaysia. During the forum, each panelist will have about five minutes each to talk about their organization s role in disaster management and then followed by discussions with the participants about all aspects in disaster management. The campaign s program is described in Table 2 and the photos of this campaign in various locations are shown in Photo 1 to 6 in Appendix-1. 9

15 Table 2. The public awareness campaign program. Time Activity am Registration 9.00 am Prayer recital Welcoming Address 9.05 am by State Security Secretary 9.15 am Opening Speech 9.30 am Video Presentation 9.40 am Break / Exhibition Session 1 : Explanation of Earthquake am by Mineral and Geoscience Department (JMG) Session 2 : Earthquake and Tsunami Hazard and The Malaysian am National Tsunami Early Warning System by Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) Session 3 : Extreme Weather in Malaysia and Extreme Weather am Warning by Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) Session 4 : Disaster Management in Malaysia Its Issues and am Challenges by National Security Council (NSC) Forum on Reaction, Recovery and Redevelopment by Royal Malaysian Police, Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia, am Health Department Malaysia and Social Welfare Department of Malaysia Moderated by National Security Council (NSC) pm Closing / Lunch The statistics of awareness campaign programs which have been carried out since 2007 are summarized in the following Table 3, Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6. 10

16 Table 3. Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards in Sabah, 2007 No. Date Location 1 11 November 2007 Kota Kinabalu 2 14 November 2007 Sandakan 3 16 December 2007 Lahad Datu 4 17 December 2007 Semporna 5 19 December 2007 Tawau Table 4. Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards in 2008 No. Date Location No. of Participants 1 21 July 2008 Kangar, Perlis July 2008 Kuala Kedah, Kedah July 2008 Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah July 2008 Pulau Langkawi, Kedah July 2008 Batu Feringhi, Penang August 2008 Parit Buntar, Perak August 2008 Manjung, Perak October 2008 Kundasang, Sabah October 2008 Kudat, Sabah October 2008 Sandakan, Sabah October 2008 Tawau, Sabah November 2008 Kuching, Sarawak November 2008 Miri, Sarawak December 2008 Bintulu, Sarawak 137 Total No. of Participants

17 Table 5. Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards in 2009 (The * indicates the number of participants during the campaign on 17 October 2009 only). No. Date Location No. of Participants 1 9 July 2009 Bandar Melaka, Malacca July 2009 Teluk Bahang, Penang July 2009 Sg. Burong, Penang July 2009 Teluk Intan, Perak July 2009 Penaga, Penang August 2009 Kuala Perlis, Perlis August 2009 Parit Buntar, Perak August 2009 Semporna, Sabah August 2009 Keningau, Sabah October 2009 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu & 18 October 2009 Tanjung Bidara, Malacca 136* October 2009 Sibu, Sarawak November 2009 Kuantan, Pahang 220 Total No. of Participants 2694 Table 6. Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards in 2010 No. Date Location No. of Participants 1 20 May 2010 Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan August 2010 Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang October 2010 Manjung, Perak 208 Total No. of Participants

18 1.2.2 Public Awareness Campaign on Tsunami Warning Siren Since 2005, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) through MMD has developed the Malaysian National Tsunami Early Warning System (MNTEWS) to provide early warning of tsunami occurrence and dissemination of earthquake information to the country. MNTEWS comprises three major components; data and information collection component, processing and analysis component and dissemination component. The dissemination component is the part where the early warning/information goes to the relevant disaster management agencies and the public. The tsunami siren network is a sub-component in the dissemination component. In 2010, the network has been increased to 23 tsunami warning sirens operating at strategic locations in coastal areas. To educate the public about its function and importance, MMD has organized public awareness campaigns on tsunami warning siren (Table 7 and Table 8) at locations where the sirens are installed. These campaigns have been beneficial to more than 1,000 participants at the coastal community. 13

19 Table 7. Public Awareness Campaign on Tsunami Siren in 2009 No. of No. Date Location Participants 1 4 June 2009 Teluk Cempedak, Kuantan, Pahang June 2009 Batu Feringhi, Penang June 2009 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu June 2009 Kuala Muda, Kedah June 2009 Kuala Kurau, Perak June 2009 Tawau, Sabah June 2009 Semporna, Sabah June 2009 Sandakan, Sabah October 2009 Pantai Chenang, Kedah October 2009 Kuala Teriang, Kedah December 2009 Tanjung Bungah, Penang December 2009 Pasir Panjang, Perak 130 Total No. of Participants

20 Table 8. Public Awareness Campaign on Tsunami Siren in 2010 No. Date Location No. of Participants 1 15 January 2010 Kuala Kedah, Kedah April 2010 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu May 2010 Pulau Tioman, Pahang July 2010 Pulau Pangkor, Perak July 2010 Miri, Sarawak July 2010 Labuan, Sabah July 2010 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah July 2010 Kudat, Sabah August 2010 Lahad Datu, Sabah August 2010 Kunak, Sabah October 2010 Port Klang, Selangor 50 Total No. of Participants The Good Practice : Tsunami Drills The first evacuation drill was conducted in Tuaran, Sabah in 2006, and the second and third drills were conducted in Langkawi Island in 2007 and October The tsunami evacuation drills conducted in Tuaran and Langkawi Island involved the evacuation of local communities and participation from local response agencies and the activities have raised public awareness on earthquake and tsunami risks. The aim of these tsunami drills is to assess the level of preparedness of disaster management agencies and public in response to the tsunami disaster. This was to ensure a systematic command, control and coordination of all emergency response agencies being implemented in managing future tsunami events. The first Indian Ocean Tsunami Drill which was held on 14 October 2009 had involved two villages (Kuala Teriang and Kuala Melaka, Kedah), which have been hit by the destructive 15

21 ocean-wide Indian Ocean Tsunami on 26 December The tsunami drills conducted are as shown in Table 9. Table 9. Tsunami Drills since No. Evacuation Drill Date Location 1 Pacific Wave May 2006 Tuaran,Sabah 2 Tsunami Drill 17 December 2007 Langkawi, Kedah 3 Pacific Wave October 2008 Communication test at MMD Headquarters between MMD, NSC, State NSCs, RMP and RTM 4 Indian Ocean Wave October 2009 Langkawi, Kedah 1.3 Purpose of Study Until present time, there are insufficient published reports of a study or a survey conducted to investigate the public s perception on earthquake and tsunami risks and hazards in Malaysia. For MMD, the Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards has been the main effort to educate and instill awareness to the public in this matter, thus inculcate more interest to participate in other disaster preparedness activities. From here, there is a need to evaluate the overall effort. Henceforth, the purpose of this study is to analyze the awareness level of the community upon earthquake and tsunami disaster, to evaluate the effectiveness of MMD s public awareness campaign; the strength and the weaknesses as well as to identify the way to enhance awareness and capacity building amongst all major stakeholders on the importance of proper planning and management of disaster risk reduction in Malaysia. 16

22 2. DATA 2.1 Questionnaires Starting from 2009, MMD has distributed questionnaires to participants of the public awareness campaign programs. The Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness Questionnaire was created based on the tsunami questionnaire by the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC, 2009), Hawaii. The questionnaire comprises a series of questions divided into four parts; Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D. Part A listed six basic questions to identify the public s knowledge on earthquake and tsunami. The questions in Part B are intended to identify the public s awareness level about the MNTEWS and also the dissemination of earthquake and tsunami information methods. Part C is intended to identify the public s knowledge on earthquake and tsunami disaster preparation and Part D is dedicated fully to the public s comments about the Public Awareness Campaigns on Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards and also to identify the topic that the respondent wants to know more. The questionnaire can be referred in Appendix METHODOLOGY 3.1 Methodology for Investigation Meaningful public response to tsunami warnings and any evacuation order is partly dependent on the clarity and accuracy of the orders; the time available prior to tsunami arrival; the efficiency of the coordinating emergency services and significantly, upon the public s understanding and perception of hazard and risk (Hurnen and McClure, 1997; Dominey-Howes and Minos-Minopoulos, 2004; Bird and Dominey-Howes, 2008). Therefore, it is very important to have a clear understanding of the public s knowledge and awareness about earthquake and tsunami in developing hazard education programs and risk management procedures. For that purpose, the most common method to be used is through questionnaires. In 2009, MMD has created a set of questionnaires as explained in Chapter 2.1 with the 17

23 additional purpose to gain an insight into the public s opinion of the public awareness campaigns conducted by MMD. The questionnaires were distributed to the campaign s participants during registration process and they were asked to return the questionnaires after the campaign ends. In line with the campaign s target group, the campaign s participants or respondents for the questionnaire were mostly consists of government officials from disaster management agencies, community leaders, village heads and the local residents which were invited to attend the campaign. In general, the questionnaire was constructed to get responses from the participants about their knowledge of earthquake and tsunami, their awareness of the earthquake and tsunami warnings or information dissemination methods, their knowledge and awareness of disaster preparations and their opinion about the public awareness campaign. Some of the questions structure was open-ended to gain qualitative data of the participants knowledge and perceptions, while other questions sought quantitative data for analysis and interpretation. The option Others, please specify was offered where applicable to avoid restricting or guiding responses to closed questions with specified selections and to get more descriptive and elaborative responses from the respondents. 3.2 Analyzing Questionnaire Forms The collected questionnaire forms were analyzed by using simple sorting procedures and basic mathematics and statistics methods. Most of the calculations were done in the computer using Microsoft Excel application. We only analyzed questionnaire forms which were returned by respondents for public awareness campaigns in 2009 and From Table 10, 568 (37%) of the questionnaires were returned by respondents and processed for the purpose of this research. This percentage is with respect that an average of 100 questionnaires was distributed for each of the 16 locations. 18

24 Table 10. Number of questionnaires collected and considered for analysis. Date Location No. of No. of Questionnaires Participants Returned 9 July 2009 Bandar Melaka, Malacca July 2009 Teluk Bahang, Penang July 2009 Sg. Burong, Penang July 2009 Teluk Intan, Perak July 2009 Penaga, Penang August 2009 Kuala Perlis, Perlis August 2009 Parit Buntar, Perak August 2009 Semporna, Sabah August 2009 Keningau, Sabah & 18 October 2009 Tanjung Bidara, Malacca October 2009 Sibu, Sarawak November 2009 Kuantan, Pahang May 2010 Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan August 2010 Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang October 2010 Manjung, Perak Total No. of Questionnaires RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The findings from the questionnaires were analyzed part by part. The detailed results are shown below followed by discussions. 19

25 4.1 Part A : Knowledge and awareness about earthquake and tsunami Part A comprises 6 questions that are mainly focusing on the respondents general understanding on earthquake and tsunami. Detailed findings are as follows while the summarized results are as in Table 11. In general, most of the respondents are sufficiently knowledgeable on earthquake and tsunami hazards and risks. Table 11. Summarized result of Part A in the questionnaire. RESPONSE (%) QUESTIONS NOT YES NO SURE 1. Do you know what is earthquake and tsunami? Do you know about the risk of earthquake/tsunami in your area currently? Have you ever heard of the 2004 December Tsunami disaster? Have you ever felt earthquake? Have you ever seen tsunami wave? Do you know the difference between tsunami wave and tidal wave? Question 1: Do you know what is earthquake and tsunami? If yes, where do you get the information? 91% respondents answered that they have the knowledge about earthquake and tsunami while 3% respondents do not know and the rest 6% respondents are not sure (Figure 3). 471 (47%) respondents who have the knowledge about earthquake and tsunami credited television as their source of information, followed by newspaper (317; 31%), magazine (131; 13%) and others (91; 9%) as shown in Figure 4. As for other sources of getting information on earthquake and tsunami, the respondents have listed the internet, radio, books, brochures, VCDs, verbal information, subjects learned at school, their children and the public awareness campaign itself. 20

26 Figure 3. Statistics for Question 1 Figure 4. The information source of earthquake and tsunami selected by respondents. Question 2: Do you know about the risk of earthquake/tsunami in your area currently? 67% respondents answered that they know about the current risk of earthquake or tsunami in their area while 16% respondents answered that they do not know about it and 17% respondents are not sure (Figure 5). A brief look at the results for each 21

27 campaign location shows that more than half of the respondents answered Yes for this question in every locations. Figure 5. Statistics for Question 2. Question 3: Have you ever heard of the 2004 December Tsunami disaster? 97% respondents answered that they had heard of the 2004 December Tsunami disaster while only 3% respondents have never heard of the disaster before (Figure 6). This result is not surprising as the tsunami received numerous media coverage and attention due to its large magnitude and extensions of the damages. Figure 6. Statistics for Question 3. 22

28 Question 4: Have you ever felt earthquake? If yes, please specify when and where. 70% respondents have never felt earthquake tremors before while 30% respondents had prior earthquake experience. Majority respondents who have felt earthquakes did not specify the time and the location of the felt earthquake. However, we identified that most respondents who had specified the date and the location where they had felt it is in correlation with the 2004 Sumatran Earthquake and the Bukit Tinggi earthquakes. The respondents from East Malaysia mainly listed the local origin earthquakes which had occurred in their area. Question 5: Have you ever seen tsunami wave? If yes, please specify. 67% respondents claimed that they have seen tsunami wave before while the remaining 33% respondents have never seen tsunami wave. However, more than half of the respondents (67%) declared that they have only seen the tsunami wave through news coverage in television and 33% had personal experience of tsunami. Among the places specified by the respondents upon observing or experiencing tsunami waves are Pantai Teluk Bahang, Pantai Miami and Kg. Nelayan in Penang, Bakau Tua, Sg. Muda, Pantai Kuala Muda, Langkawi and Sg. Batu in Kedah. Figures 7(a) 7(n) show the results of Question 4 and Question 5 according to each campaign location. At most locations, the majority of respondents have no prior experience of earthquake and tsunami. However, at certain locations, namely Teluk Bahang, Balik Pulau and Penaga, majority of the respondents have felt earthquakes and observed tsunami, while majority of respondents in Janda Baik have experienced earthquake tremors. 23

29 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) 24

30 (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n) Figure 7. Statistics for Question 4 and Question 5. Question 6: Do you know the difference between tsunami wave and tidal wave? 67% respondents answered that they know the difference between tsunami wave and tidal wave while the remaining 33% respondents cannot differentiate between the two types of waves (Figure 8). This result shows that majority of respondents only have the very basic knowledge about tsunami, but lacking the in-depth 25

31 information about tsunami wave which is important for them to identify a tsunami wave when they see it arrives. A brief look at the results for each campaign location shows that more than half of the respondents answered Yes for this question in every locations. Figure 8. Statistics for Question Part B : Dissemination of earthquake and tsunami information methods The dissemination component of MNTEWS is designed to disseminate advisory or warning and other information to the relevant personnel and agencies within 12 minutes after the occurrence of an earthquake. The modes of dissemination are sorted out into dispatching Short Message Service (SMS) to mobile phones, sending telefaxes to relevant disaster management agencies, transmitting relevant information to mass media via broadcasting system (including national television and radio stations), public announcement system such as warning sirens and alarms and automated updating of the MMD earthquake and tsunami web pages. Question 7: Do you know about the existence of Malaysian National Tsunami Early Warning System (MNTEWS)? If yes, where do you get the information? Question 7 specifically evaluates the respondents awareness of the existence of MNTEWS. 64% of the respondents are aware about the existence of MNTEWS while the remaining 36% do not know about MNTEWS. From Figure 9, television (53%) provides the source of knowledge and information about MNTEWS, followed 26

32 by newspaper (31%), other source of information (9%) and magazine (7%). Figure 10 listed other sources of information by the respondents which included the internet, talks and seminars, the public awareness campaign, information given by disaster management agencies, radio and pamphlets. Figure 9. The main sources of information selected by respondents who are aware of MNTEWS s existence. Figure 10. Other sources of information on MNTEWS. 27

33 Question 8: How do you get information about the latest earthquake/tsunami information? This question is intended to know the current medium of information of acquiring the latest earthquake or tsunami information for the respondents. From Table 12, 50% respondents selected television as their main source of information, followed by radio (25%), information by their friends (12%), SMS (9%) and others (4%). Selecting television as their source, the respondents were asked to specify the television network and we identified that RTM (40%) and TV3 (37%) are the most widely watched television networks, followed by Astro (9%), NTV7 and TV9 (5%) and 8TV (4%). The other source of information specified by the respondents are internet, telephone, , newspaper, siren, the authorities and also verbal information. Question 9: What do you think is the best way to issue earthquake and tsunami information to the public? This question on the other hand is intended to know the preferred medium of information of acquiring the latest earthquake or tsunami information for the respondents. From Table 12, 29% respondents preferred to watch television, followed closely by SMS (27%), radio (20%), telephone (19%) and others (5%). TV3 (36%) and RTM (32%) are majorly preferred television networks, followed by Astro (12%), NTV7 and TV9 (7%) and 8TV (6%). The same other sources of information as in Question 8 were specified by the respondents. 28

34 Table 12. Summarized findings on respondents s responses to Question 8 and 9. Means of dissemination for earthquake/tsunami Responses (%) latest information to the public Question 8 Question 9 SMS 9 27 Friends 12 - Telephone - 19 Radio Television Others Part C : Earthquake and tsunami disaster preparation The questions for Part C are as follows; Question 10: Do you know what to do when an earthquake or tsunami occurs? If yes, please specify. Question 11: Do you know what actions you have to take when you receive a tsunami warning for your area of residence? If yes, please specify. Question 12: Do you know the safe zones to go in your area when a tsunami warning is issued for your residence? If yes, please specify the location. From Figure 11, 56% respondents know what to do when an earthquake or tsunami occurs (Question 10), 60% respondents know what actions they have to take when they receive a tsunami warning for their area of residence (Question 11) and 56% respondents are aware of the safe zones in their area for evacuation upon receiving tsunami warning for their residence area (Question 12). 29

35 Figure 11. Results for Question 10, 11 and 12. In addition to answering Yes for each question, the respondents were asked to elaborate on their answers. The frequent responses for each question are as listed in Table 13, Table 14 and Table

36 Table 13. Question 10: Actions to be taken when an earthquake or tsunami occurs. Answer related to Earthquake disaster Tsunami disaster General answers Actions to be taken when an earthquake or tsunami occurs a) Go to an open area b) Run outside of the building c) Drop, cover your head and wait d) Take cover a) Run to higher places b) Move to higher place and further inland c) Evacuate the house, move to higher grounds instantly d) Go to highest place like tall building or hill top e) Go out of the house and find places far away from the sea f) Do not be near the sea g) Save yourself, your family and properties and move to higher places a) Find safe places and follow instructions from the authorities b) Run to safe places c) Prepare early or be prepared d) Inform neighbours, friends and the authorities e) Bring together important documents f) Do not panic g) Follow the safety measures from the authorities 31

37 Table 14. Question 11: Actions to be taken upon receiving tsunami warning. Answer related to Tsunami Warning Actions to be taken upon receiving tsunami warning a) Run for your life or safety b) Move to higher grounds and safe places and designated places by the authorities c) Gather all family members, inform neighbours and evacuate to safe and high places d) As for Fire Department personnel, wait for further instructions from higher officials e) Move away from beach area and bays f) Disseminate the warning all around the area, including community and disaster management agencies or Disseminate through the mosque s sound system g) Wait for instructions from the authorities and follow the instructions h) Ask for help i) Having discussion about evacuation plan j) Bring together important documents Table 15. Question 12: Knowledge of safe zones for evacuation upon receiving tsunami warning Answer related to Tsunami Warning Safe zones for evacuation upon receiving tsunami warning a) Go to higher grounds or hilly areas or tall building or farther away from the beach and bay area or gazetted safe places b) Bukit Aup, Sibu, Sarawak c) Teluk Cempedak, Kuantan, Pahang d) Bukit Kimanis, Keningau, Sabah e) Bukit Perah, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan f) Mosques, community halls and schools g) Refer to the authorities of the safe place to go 32

38 4.4 Part D : Comments The fourth part of the questionnaire asked for the respondents opinion about the particular public awareness campaign that they were attending. In a glance, the responses included positive comments, negative comments and suggestions. The overall comments are positive whereby the respondents feel that the public awareness campaign has benefited them in many ways. Table 16 listed the summarized comments from the respondents. 33

39 Types of Comments Positive Negative Suggestions Table 16. Summarized comments received from the questionnaires. 34 Comments a) Providing and improving knowledge as well as awareness of natural disasters and its preparation. b) Acquiring knowledge on signs occurring before the disaster and safety measures during the disaster. c) Compact and concise. d) Receiving new information about natural disasters. e) Acquiring a lot of useful information. a) Not enough information is acquired. b) Information given is only on basic level and awareness to be cautious. c) The campaign is not reaching the target group which is the residence in coastal and rural areas. d) Quite unattractive presentation. a) The campaign should be extended to kindergarten pupils and school children. b) More time should be given to the speakers as the information to be given is abundant compared to the talk time of 20 minutes. c) The campaign is asked to be held more frequently. d) The information and promotion of the campaign should be broadcasted in the mass and electronic media. e) Should add a practical session or drills. f) Should add activities such as quizzes to attract the public to see the exhibitions. g) Insert similar slots in broadcasting media such as television and radio programs. h) Should provide notes and reference material for easier understanding. i) Widen the campaign location to public places e.g. shopping malls, community centers.

40 At the end of the questionnaire, the respondents are asked to note down the information that they want to know more in the future. From the responses, we were able to categorize the information needed in several categories as described in Table

41 Table 17. Further information needed by the respondents. Category Information a) All natural disasters b) Tsunami c) Earthquake Natural d) Strong wave, tornado, flash flood, flood, storm, extreme disasters weather, haze and environmental issues e) Landslide f) Frequent tremors occurring in Janda Baik and Bukit Tinggi g) Volcano a) Public awareness campaigns b) Early preparations and actions that should be taken before and during disaster Disaster c) Safe places preparedness d) Possibility of disaster recurrence e) The preparations of related government agencies and NGOs in identifying disaster-prone locations, evacuation areas and information dissemination a) The early warning system b) Tsunami warnings c) Tsunami siren d) Tsunami research Disaster e) Functions of the district office in managing disasters and state management operations f) Types of post-disaster recovery programs g) Post-disaster recovery and redevelopment h) Help provided to victims a) Cloud seeding Others b) The effects to this country if natural disasters occur in neighbouring countries 36

42 4.5 Discussion and recommendations This research is intended to analyze the awareness level of the public on earthquake and tsunami hazards and risks and to evaluate the effectiveness of the public awareness campaign program by MMD by using questionnaires, as well as to identify ways to improve this program in the future. We recognized the fact that certain aspects of the questionnaire pose a certain degree of limitations to achieve the intended objectives. However, we feel that the results acquired are relevant and useful towards the advancement of public education in earthquake and tsunami hazards and risks in general Discussion on the Research Findings From the 568 questionnaires returned by the participants of the public awareness campaigns in 16 locations, the following findings are revealed; i. After the occurrence of 2004 great Sumatran earthquake and its subsequent tsunami, majority of the respondents by now are aware of the earthquake and tsunami disaster and their effects to the people in disaster-prone areas. ii. Majority of the respondents have a moderate to high level of basic knowledge on the disasters. iii. More than 60% of respondents are aware of the risks of the disasters in their current particular area of residence. iv. More than 60% of respondents know the difference between tsunami wave and tidal wave. v. Majority of the respondents recognized the existence of MNTEWS via mass media. vi. The mass media, particularly television networks are the most convenient source of information on all aspects of information about the disasters and the best way for the respondents to acquire up-to-date news and information. vii. More than 50% of respondents are aware of the appropriate actions to take during disasters and upon receiving a tsunami warning, as well as the whereabouts of safe zones in their areas. 37

43 viii. Based on the elaborated answers by the respondents upon identifying the safe zone areas, not many specific responses were given and several answers show that they are dependent on the authorities for instructions. However, majority of the respondents agreed that a safe location from tsunami disaster should be a place on higher grounds and far from the beach. ix. Majority of the respondents responded well to the public awareness campaign and aware of its importance and advantages it provides them in terms of sharing the knowledge and improving their awareness to earthquake and tsunami hazards. x. Additionally, many suggested that the campaigns should be expanded with more frequency, with a wider-range audience and more audience-oriented sessions. As the first phase of the Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards were initially intended to government officials from disaster management agencies, community leaders and village heads, and afterwards were extended to all community members, the overall questionnaire result is reflecting a mixed result of the knowledge and level of awareness of the people, who generally most of them have easy access to information media and some of them are working directly in managing disasters. Therefore, these results do not represent fully the level of knowledge and awareness of the lay-people or local dwellers in disaster-prone areas. However, these results have revealed that the government officials from disaster management agencies and community leaders are sufficiently aware of the earthquake and tsunami risks to the country and this is important to them as they are the key persons to continue the effort of educating the people in their area and help the people to construct their own safety plan during disaster. Based on these findings, the public awareness campaign on earthquake and tsunami hazards organized by MMD in collaboration with NSC are undoubtedly useful and beneficial to the people. The campaign has received warm response by the people. However, there are rooms for improvement to better serve its purpose as a medium of educating the public and to increase its effectiveness. 38

44 We acknowledge two approaches to the development of educational programmes, namely the top-down approach and the bottom-up approach (Dominey-Howes and Minos-Minopoulos, 2004). In this subject, top-down approach relates to education of high ranking officials and their representatives involved in the process of managing earthquake and tsunami hazards. On the other hand, the bottom-up approach relates to community-based educational initiatives that involve all community members as stakeholders. The current settings of the public awareness campaign can be maintained with some improvements on the content and the duration time of the campaign. This campaign can be organized in locations that a campaign has never been organized before. We also suggest that the target of the future public awareness campaign to be emphasized on the grass root community and children, with more focus should be given to school children. Education and awareness for school children has been promoted and implemented throughout the global community in all kinds of disasterprone region. As Ronan and Johnston (2001) stated that An idea based in common sense is that the more a child is educated and encouraged to share this information, the more there exists potential for caregivers to be informed. This has been reflected in our study where there are responses that information on earthquake and tsunami were acquired from the respondents children. There are several issues pertaining to actualizing this public awareness campaigns as the followings; a) As MMD being a government agency, the department is constrained with the budget allowed by the government, b) the present public awareness campaign is a collaboration effort with the NSC, therefore it is important to have a full commitment from both parties to successfully organizing the campaigns, and c) sufficient human resource with presentation skills is important in delivering the intended message effectively and resonating the cause at the highest level. Henceforth, several measures should be considered and taken to address these issues and produce a high quality public awareness campaign that is impacting the public towards building a resilient community in handling the disasters. 39

45 4.5.2 Discussion on the questionnaire The matters pertaining to the questionnaire will be discussed in two aspects; a) the questionnaire s structure and format, and b) the distribution. For a more comprehensive and extensive survey on public awareness, we believe that the questionnaire s structure and format should be improved. This is because the current structure of the questionnaire could not reflect a certain aspect of the study. Firstly, the respondents particulars such as age, education level and/or occupation should be added in the first part of the questionnaire as it is important to study and analyze how each group of people will respond to the questionnaire and their relations with certain aspects of the questionnaire. The questions structure should also be improved to assess deeper into respondents understanding and perceptions on earthquake and tsunami hazards and risk. For example, instead of asking Do you know what is earthquake and tsunami?, a better question could be Do you know that tsunami can be generated by earthquake? with the selection answers of Yes and No. In general, further studies should be taken to create a better questionnaire. The questionnaires were distributed at the registration process at the start of the campaign and were collected at the end of the campaign by asking the participants to return the questionnaires to the secretariat. Hence, most participants tend to treat the questionnaire as unimportant and did not return the questionnaires or did not complete the questionnaires fully. Although the sample of 568 questionnaires or 37% of the questionnaires distributed were considered sufficient for this study, the quality of the answers given could be improved if the questionnaires were given in face-to-face interview manner. This is more suitable if the questionnaire is specifically assessing the public s perception and knowledge on the disasters risks and hazards. However, in assessing the performance or effectiveness of the campaign itself, a distributed questionnaire as the present setting is suffice. Therefore, we suggest that either separate questionnaire should be constructed to address different objectives or in another way, the existing questionnaire should be improved or upgraded to cater all related objectives. 40

46 5. CONCLUSION MMD has been engaged in earthquake and tsunami disaster preparedness activities since the occurrence of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman tsunami which had destroyed the livelihood of many people in the country. Public awareness campaigns have been organized to better educate the public on the disasters risks and hazards. From this study, we have identified that by now the public is well aware of hazards and risks posed by the disasters and has the knowledge to take proper actions when the disasters occur. This study also revealed that the public awareness campaigns conducted by MMD with the collaboration of NSC proved to be efficient and highly welcomed by the public. However, several suggestions have been put forward to improve the campaign programmes and further enhance the awareness and education of the public towards being disaster-ready in the future, thus reducing the impact of the disasters on the people. This study is the first to be done by MMD in evaluating such efforts, therefore we also suggest that a more properly constructed questionnaire should be carry out to better assess the level of awareness and knowledge of the public on earthquake and tsunami hazards and risks. FUTURE PLAN The Public Awareness Campaign on Earthquake, Tsunami and Extreme Weather Hazards will definitely continue to be the department s annual program, as well as other earthquake and tsunami disaster preparedness programs including the tsunami drills. The campaigns module will be reviewed to improve its effectiveness and also to complement with other similar program, for instance, the NSC s Capacity Building for Disaster Management (CBDM) program. Suggestions and comments from the questionnaires will be considered in making this improvement. 41