Demographic and psychosocial features and their effects on the survivors of the 1999 earthquake in Turkey

A survey was conducted of 500 survivors of the 1999 earthquake in Turkey to investigate their levels of alienation and forms of preparedness for future disasters. It was found that the level of alienation in general is not very significant and that level of education is the most important influential independent variable. The only alienation component found to have a negative impact on the responsible behavior related to preparedness for earthquakes was the social isolation variable. As level of education increases and social isolation decreases, responsible behavior increases. The existence of little such research in developing societies like Turkey increases the importance of this work and it is expected that it will have a positive impact on similar future studies.