Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the level of earthquake preparedness of individuals living in Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, evaluate whether prior earthquake experience has an impact on earthquake preparedness and discuss the cultural factors that may play a role in determining the level of preparedness. Design/methodology/approach -Three locations were identified for the study. Aşkale and Erçiş district had experienced a major earthquake where Erzurum City Center had no major earthquake experience. A total of 174 participants were included in the study. Earthquake preparation was assessed using the Turkish version of the Wellington Earthquake Preparedness Scale by Spittal et al. (2006). Findings -The results showed a significant relationship between the place of living, earthquake experience and preparation. Those who had prior earthquake experience had higher preparation than those who had no prior earthquake experience. Home owners had taken more steps to prepare for an earthquake than non-home owners Individuals who were married had higher preparation scores than those who were single or widowed. A comparison of general perception of preparedness levels reported by participants having a major earthquake experience and no earthquake experience showed that Erçiş and Aşkale residents were significantly more prepared for an earthquake than Erzurum residents. Home ownership and past earthquake experience were found to be predictors of preparation. Originality/value -Although the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey encounters many earthquakes resulting in mass destruction, the issue of whether individuals living in this region are ready and prepared for a possible earthquake has not been researched sufficiently.Earthquakes are among the most dangerous geologic phenomena on our planet. There are many thousands of earthquakes every year on Earth and the timing as well as the magnitude of earthquakes still remain unpredictable. Since earthquake is an unpredictable disaster, it usually evokes the idea that one cannot prepare for it. However, the only way to Earthquake experience and preparedness reduce damages and losses is to effectively prepare for it (Shaw et al., 2004). The more prepared people are for an earthquake, the less damage and losses they will experience. Disaster studies are organized around four phases of disaster loss reduction which are mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery and according to a report by the National Research Council (NRC, 2006), the core topics of hazards and disaster research include: hazards research, which focusses on pre-disaster hazard vulnerability analysis and mitigation; and disaster research, which focusses on post-disaster emergency response and recovery and preparedness intersects with both of these two areas, serving as a temporal connector between the pre-impact and post-impact phases of a disaster event (Sutton and Tierney, 2006).Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines preparedness as the leadership, training, readines...

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The purpose of the study was to measure the impact of psychological hardiness on the intolerance of uncertainty (IOU) among university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. A cross‐sectional correlational research design was used in the study, where participants were selected by convenience sampling. The data was collected from 1217 undergraduate students from a university in Turkey through web‐based questionnaires. The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale assessed data, including intolerance of uncertainty. In addition, the Personal Views Survey III‐R was used to measure students' psychological hardiness. The results indicated that Turkish undergraduate students overall had high IOU and above‐average psychological hardiness. Psychological hardiness was negatively correlated with IOU. Students losing a loved one because of COVID‐19 had increased intolerance to uncertainty and lower psychological hardiness. Psychological hardiness was a powerful predictor of IOU. These findings show the need to implement hardiness‐training programs for undergraduate students to increase their tolerance to uncertainty and reduce the effect of grief.

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