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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Many cities such as Tehran, Tabriz, Rudbar, Manjil, Tabas, Lar, Qazvin, Zanjan, Hamadan, and Kermanshah are prone to damages and losses caused by the earthquake. The occurrence of an earthquake can lead to the destruction of school buildings and disruption in the function of educational systems, and the first responders will be school officials and students. This study compared Shiraz and Kerman high school students' knowledge encountering the earthquake hazard.
Materials and Methods: The research method was descriptive and the statistical population included all students of junior high schools in Shiraz and Kerman cities. Through cluster sampling method and based on Cochran's formula, 380 students in Shiraz and 376 in Kerman were randomly selected. Data collection tool was the self-administered questionnaire which was distributed among the samples after checking its validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using t-test and one-way analysis of variance.
Results: Findings revealed that 54.5% of Shiraz students and 59.4% of Kerman students received scores between 0.40 and 0.60, and 23.6% of Shiraz students and 27.1% of Kerman students received scores between 0.60 and 0.80. The level of Kerman students' knowledge was higher than Shiraz students' in the emergency measures before an earthquake (0.53 Vs 0.5, p=0.008). However, there was no difference between the two groups in their knowledge on emergency measures during and after the earthquake.
Conclusion: The knowledge level of students regarding the serious risk of an earthquake was lower than standard. The level of the Kerman students' knowledge was evaluated higher than the Shiraz students'. Therefore, there is a need for training and education through new methods in order to improve the level of students' knowledge in the emergency measures before, during, and after the earthquake.
Keywords: Knowledge, Students, Earthquake, Crisis management
Language: en |