The Role of Faith in Coping with Disasters / Methods of Coping Between Fate and Precaution

Natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, have been one of the major problems faced by humankind throughout history. While meteorologists can provide accurate warnings about when and where certain natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, and avalanches may occur, unfortunately, similar predictions cannot be made regarding the spatial and temporal estimation of larger-scale disasters such as earthquakes, which cause significant loss of life and property. The faults on the Earth's surface, along with the stress and energy accumulation in those areas, provide us with important data based on scientific studies regarding the engineering and construction resilience of the building stock in cities located along these fault lines. However, it can be argued that expressing earthquake predictions in terms of probability, such as “An earthquake is expected within the next few years,” does not yield the desired results in terms of public psychology. Wide segments of society can only fully grasp the seriousness of the earthquake reality through the painful traumas they experience.