How Will Social Science Help Us Deal With Earthquakes?

The past few years have seen impressive growth in our ability to think about earthquakes, their causes, and their consequences in holistic terms. Reducing earthquake losses is no longer the province of a small set of specialized disciplines; rather, both research and practice increasingly emphasize the need to approach the problem of earthquakes and their impacts from a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective. Perhaps the most striking recent change is a growing appreciation for the role the social science disciplines play in characterizing and managing the earthquake threat. More than ever before, researchers and practitioners in the fields of engineering, the earth sciences, and other disciplines concerned with the earthquake problem are working collaboratively on research with social scientists and asking their advice on policies, programs, and loss-reduction strategies