Influences on Local Adoption of Planning Measures for Earthquake Hazard Mitigation

This article assesses the extent to which various planning measures are used by communities for mitigating earthquake hazards. A secondary aim is to examine how planning process activities and community context characteristics influence local adoption of planning measures for mitigation. A number of conclusions based on data from a national survey of communities at risk to earthquakes were derived. Communities use a wide variety of planning measures for earthquake mitigation, but the frequency of adoption of such measures was greater in California than in other states. Planning process activities had a more important influence on local adoption than context characteristics. This conclusion implies that local efforts to advance local earthquake mitigation programs have a substantial potential for success.