An Evaluation of People's Knowledge of Tsunami: Case study of Chabahar in 2009

Education and community preparation are one of the most important components of disaster management. This phase of the disaster management cycle can play a significant role in disaster risk reduction due to its serious effect on community. So far, because of this importance, many activities have been undertaken in various countries for disaster education and public awareness. This study aims to assess and evaluate the public awareness of tsunami disaster in Chabahar port in Iran by using questionnaires that were distributed among three various groups of respondents including: residents, school children and governmental officials. Data have been collected by field technique through simple random sampling. According to the results, only 85% of people were familiar with the term of tsunami. However, a correct definition did not provide for this phenomenon. About 59/4% of respondents were unaware of existence of this system in Chabahar. About 57/4% of people were obtained their limited information about tsunami from mass media including television, newspapers, Internet and etc. Deaths and injuries were the greatest concern of people in tsunami. From the viewpoint of Chabahar people, the most important biological effects of tsunami were its harmful effect on beach and then its impact on coastal animals and plants.The results has shown the lack of awareness and knowledge of people in the region especially women. Based on the obtained findings and analysis of the results, few suggestions and strategies are proposed by the authors for raising public awareness of probable tsunami disaster in the future as well as to promote novel disaster management methods.