Initial plan, thoughts, and why this project
Just like many international students, as soon as my finals were over, I packed my bags and found myself at the airport. Unlike most international students, however, I was not going back home. I was travelling to Switzerland to begin my LiA.
I will be joining the CPPS, the Centre Pédagogique Prévention Séisme, in Sion, Switzerland. The CPPS is an educational earthquake prevention centre that teaches students, schools, and the wider public how to understand earthquakes and react to them. It uses interactive activities, exhibitions, and an earthquake simulator to make prevention more practical and memorable. There, I will learn how the topic of earthquakes is adapted for children, and what kinds of workshops and engaging activities they use to raise awareness about earthquake prevention.
As someone from Türkiye, I grew up knowing that earthquakes were common and could happen at any time. Even though I think I know some of the things I was taught to do during an earthquake, I am not sure I would be able to react quickly enough, because these actions are not reflexes. For most people in Türkiye, we are taught that earthquakes happen frequently, but not necessarily what to do before, during, and after one.
I remember my secondary school announcing the dates and times of earthquake drills in advance. I also remember never really learning about the risk zones in the city we all lived in, and sometimes being shown incorrect practices, such as going under a door during an earthquake. Even though we were told to get under our desks, we were never really given the opportunity to practise this reflex properly during drills. The whole concept was treated more like a formality than a necessity.
Muscle memory is very important in moments of stress. If we only do one drill a year, and we know in advance when it will happen, this reflex simply cannot develop. Through my research, I learned that insufficient earthquake education programmes were not only an issue in my school, but part of a more systematic issue in Türkiye.
I am also aware that the country’s infrastructure is not always built with earthquakes in mind, and that overpopulated areas are often at the highest risk. With this wider apathy towards preparedness, it is not surprising that Türkiye has the 11th highest earthquake fatality load in the world, according to a 2024 study, meaning the overall human impact of earthquake deaths is extremely high compared with many other countries. It is also interesting to note that Japan ranks 28th on that same list. While earthquakes in Türkiye are often on the lower side of the Richter scale compared to Japan, the fatality load is still systematically higher. This shows the importance of prevention, especially among children in schools, alongside resilient infrastructure.
While I do not have the power or knowledge to build stronger buildings, I have been given an opportunity to raise awareness among children and help them develop this earthquake reflex. I hope to do this by working with children, their teachers, and their parents, using the knowledge I gain from the CPPS.
My project has two parts: first, learning from CPPS in Switzerland, and then using that experience to design earthquake-preparedness activities for schools in Türkiye. During my first three weeks, I will volunteer at the CPPS. I will welcome children, translate for them, become a tour guide for the earthquake simulation and prevention centre, and learn the methods used there. I will then develop a workshop, activities, and possibly even a platform adapted to Turkish schools, before testing this in Türkiye during the last three weeks of my project.
Literature review
When preparing for this project, I carried out a small literature review to ground my LiA in research. Here are my main points and resources.
Yeon, Chung and Im (2020) analysed Korean children and teenagers and found that earthquake drills alone are not enough. Combining drills with structured disaster education leads to significantly better knowledge and preparedness behaviours. Shaw et al. (2004) similarly showed that education and personal experience together shape risk perception and preparedness. Simply living in an earthquake zone does not guarantee that people know what to do.
Research has shown that disaster education for children works, but it has to be done with intention. Johnson et al. (2014) reviewed evaluations of disaster education programmes for children. They found that many programmes increase hazard knowledge and improve reported preparedness behaviours. However, they also pointed out that these programmes are often one-off, rarely include follow-up or home practice, and sometimes use weak evaluation methods.
Teaching children at a young age is one of the best ways to begin earthquake preparedness training, but many education programmes do not involve parents. Gülay (2010) studied an earthquake education programme for preschool children in Türkiye that included parent participation. The results showed significant improvements in children’s earthquake knowledge and correct safety behaviours when parents were involved. This highlights the importance of educating both children and parents together. Ronan and colleagues also emphasise that family-based disaster education is one of the most promising ways to develop children’s coping skills and preparedness.
Finally, the most important point is developing reflexes and muscle memory. Early, repeated, and engaging education builds resilience. Disaster education at younger ages can improve knowledge and preparedness, but interactive and contextually relevant methods are more effective than passive lectures.
I plan to centre my platform and workshop around these points, especially by focusing on raising awareness without creating fear, involving parents, and encouraging repeated practice.
Bibliography (for those who are interested)
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Disaster Education for Children and Teens,” International Journal of Environmental
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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155347
[2] V. A. Johnson, K. R. Ronan, D. M. Johnston, and R. Peace, “Evaluations of disaster
education programs for children: A methodological review,” International Journal of
Disaster Risk Reduction, vol. 9, pp. 107–123, Sep. 2014, doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.04.001
[3] R. Shaw, K. Shiwaku Hirohide Kobayashi, and M. Kobayashi, “Linking experience,
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[8] K. R. Ronan and D. M. Johnston, “Correlates of Hazard Education Programs for Youth,”
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[9] Z. Xu, Y. Yang, Y. Zhu, and J. Fan, “Mixed reality drills of indoor earthquake safety
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[10] S. Alpar, “Earthquake Survival Strategies: Potential Advantages of the Fetal Position in
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[11] Wyss, M., Speiser, M. and Tolis, S. (2024). The Earthquake Fatality Load: A Measure of Impact. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 114(3), pp.1437–1443. doi:https://doi.org/10.1785/0120230187