Beyond the shaking: mapping human experience and recovery after a major earthquake

LaMar Anderson, Ishmael Legaspi, Sandi Shwe Win, Lucile M. Jones, & Keith A. Porter

Submitted August 30, 2026, SCEC Contribution #15321, 2026 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #166

Research in decision-making suggests affect and narrative can influence how people respond to information about disasters. This project developed a human-centered, narrative-based risk communication framework for ShakeOut Scenario 2.0. The framework examines how personal narratives might connect earthquake impacts to the underlying science.

We developed six narrative impact profiles across six age groups: 6–11, 12-17, 18-35, 36-48, 49-65 and 65+ years. Each impact profile reflects a specific topic such as loss of routine, loss of independence, anxiety, economic instability, financial resilience, and community disruption. One regional impact profile reflects the shared geographic context of a magnitude 6.9–7.0 earthquake along the Raymond–Hollywood fault. We tracked each profile across seven scenario time points from two hours before the earthquake through two years afterward. These seven time points resulted in 49 profile observations that illustrate how social, psychological, and economic consequences evolve over time. Alternative Recovery Pathways illustrate divergent outcomes following the same earthquake without implying a return to pre-disaster conditions.

Application of the framework demonstrates that earthquake impacts extend beyond initial shaking and structural damage by connecting earthquake science to individual experiences across time. This framework provides a method for communicating both personal consequences and disparities.

The resulting StoryMap connects these narratives with preparedness and mitigation actions relevant to the impacts portrayed. Future audience evaluation is needed to determine whether this approach improves risk comprehension, personal relevance, preparedness intention, and action compared with aggregate risk communication alone.

Key Words
earthquake risk communication, narrative communication, ShakeOut Scenario 2.0, disaster recovery, risk perception, preparedness

Citation
Anderson, L., Legaspi, I., Win, S., Jones, L. M., & Porter, K. A. (2026, 08). Beyond the shaking: mapping human experience and recovery after a major earthquake. Poster Presentation at 2026 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Community Capability Building (CCB)