It appears some people, beside the researchers, are thinking about the aftermath of an errant alert. The researchers found that what people need most following an emergency or lack thereof is information that affirms their current level of safety so they can return to normal. They simply wanted an explicit statement about their safety. So, what did those people who received the message want instead? Recipients in the study were also confused by the word “investigating.” Was it a statement that something went wrong? And if so, what went wrong? Some study participants surmised that the investigation might focus on why the earthquake did not happen, others figured it pertained to what consequences the sender of the false message faced. That it was “canceled” also left it unclear whether people should be worried about earthquakes later on, and what they should do to be safe going forward throughout the day. They were unclear whether it was the message that was canceled, or if the earthquake had already occurred or if it was not going to occur. People were confused about just what was being “canceled” in the follow-up message. The study showed people were confused about content in the follow-up message and they found it to be largely ineffective.
#Earthquake california series#
The researchers conducted individual interviews with Ridgecrest residents who got the alerts, as well a series of focus groups in Southern California. They sought to find out what people who saw the message understood about the threat and their safety, and what actions they believed they should take as a result. However, it was the second message that a team of social scientists found fascinating enough to study. The false alarm was bad enough, especially for those who had previously gone through the recent quakes. The alert was followed by another message: “USGS ShakeAlert message cancelled. The false alert, which came from the ShakeAlert early warning system that operates along the West Coast, was caused by a mislocated system test message.
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