Study: Just 6% Of Charedim Prepared For Earthquake

Only 6 percent of Israel’s Haredi community describes itself as having ever prepared for an earthquake, according to a new survey conducted by researchers from the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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Motivated by recent research into the bed of the Dead Sea which revealed that an earthquake large enough to cause thousands of deaths could hit Israel in the coming years, the JCT-Hebrew University survey offered the Haredi community as a case study for examining the effect of religious beliefs and minority status on earthquake preparedness as well as for recommending “ways for improving risk mitigation in religious minority communities,” according to the survey’s original publication in the Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences journal.

The findings highlight the vulnerability of Haredi society in times of emergency, a situation that has already been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the respondents — who were mostly from Jerusalem, and also came from the Haredi population centers of Modi'in Illit, Bnei Brak, and Elad — just 6 percent answered affirmatively when asked, “Overall, have you prepared for an upcoming earthquake in Israel?” Sixty-eight percent said they were not aware of the need to disconnect electric and gas switches following an earthquake. Fifty-nine percent believed they did not have the knowledge to deal with an earthquake. Fifteen percent of respondents who are parents of small children said that they had discussed earthquake emergency rules with their children, and only 3 percent had practiced those rules with them. Read more at Arutz-7