Population response to earthquakes and earthquake early warnings in Mexico

Human responses to various natural hazards have been studied for more than a few decades. However, the effects of early warning interventions that alert the population to allow them time to take protective actions are not well known, at least to an extent where it could be compared within a socio-culturally similar region under two different scenarios: events without early warning versus those where early warning is transmitted. To understand to what extent the behaviors of populations and their emotional reactions differ under these two scenarios, we compared individual responses to an earthquake with and without an earthquake early warning (EEW) alert of the populations’ (N = 430) from the states of Mexico, Guerrero, and Mexico City in Mexico. We considered the warnings from the Mexican Seismic Early Warning System (SASMEX) and private providers. Our results indicate that EEW potentially has implications for emotional responses and risk perception during the event and that the populations that respond to the EEW that provides a window of opportunity to perform protective actions, may not necessarily use the time adequately for life saving activities. On the other hand, population reactions to seismic events without any warning include evacuation during the event, which may have negative implications to their life safety. The results draw attention to the need of education of the public to events under two different circumstances – those with and without EEW. To further strengthen the understanding of population response, socio-technical aspects should be considered in future studies.