مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد تغییر تحقیقات در مورد خطر لرزه ای – الزویر 2020

This study aims to address how the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake influenced knowledge generation and diffusion compared to the research stemming from the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in the United States and the 1995 Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in Japan, for the three countries are exposed to high seismic risk. The findings show that (1) regarding research quantity, the influence of the Wenchuan Earthquake on disaster-related knowledge generation is just beginning compared with the gradual decreases in research on the other earthquakes; (2) regarding disciplinary development, the proportion of studies relating to the Wenchuan Earthquake in natural sciences and engineering technology is gradually decreasing, while the proportion of studies in medical science, social sciences and economics is increasing; (3) the quantity of earthquake-related studies is not solely related to the influence of a specific disaster but associated with the national financial support offered by the affected country. One reason why China experiences the high research output is that Chinese national finance strongly supports such research, similar to the United States and Japan. This phenomenon corresponds with the fact that the major research institutions in China are national institutions rather than universities. Finally, (4) interdisciplinary research on the Wenchuan Earthquake mainly involves interactions between natural sciences and engineering technology. Interactions between other disciplines need to be enhanced. Thus, this research argues that, although disaster knowledge generation and diffusion is imbalanced, the multidimensional nature of earthquakes has been recognized in the literature.

Introduction

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 addresses knowledge-related issues and highlights the critical role knowledge plays in disaster risk reduction (UN, 2015). Knowledge of disaster risk in all its dimensions, such as vulnerability, capacity, hazard characteristics and the environment, can be leveraged for disaster risk assessment, prevention and mitigation, and for the development and implementation of effective response to disasters. Earthquakes, though rare and interruptive, trigger waves of learning, as they expose weaknesses and reveal previously unrealized potentials for change (Christianson et al. 2009). However, less knowledge has been generated from earthquakes than from other natural disasters (Housner, 1983). To address this gap, Liu et al. (2012) applied bibliometric methods to identify developments in disaster research. This study demonstrated that the quantity of disaster research has grown, including interdisciplinary research on the subject. Research in this area has focused on evolution, California, deformation, model, inversion, seismicity, tectonics, crustal structure, fault, zone, lithosphere, and attenuation. The Elsevier (2017) report on global disaster science demonstrated that research is increasingly focused more on prevention and preparedness and less on recovery. Countries’ scholarly output is also related to the disasters they face; for instance, Japan has more research focused on earthquakes and Tsunamis, the US on meteorological and biological disasters, Brazil and India on environmental disasters, and China on meteorological disasters.