Exploring the earthquake and tsunami subculture in Greater Concepción, Chile: a cultural analysis of communities’ response to 27F

Chile is one of the most seismic countries in the world. On February 27, 2010, the south-central regions of Chile were hit by a powerful earthquake/ tsunami event (27F) that resulted in significant loss and devastation. Greater Concepción (GC) was one of the most affected regions. Impact showed that the communities of GC remain susceptible to these events. Communities facing recurrent hazards turn to sociocultural systems to accommodate these into their lives. Disasters reveal how successful communities have been at doing this, i.e. how effective they have been at adapting to their environs. They lay bare fundamental features of vulnerability that contributed to the unfolding of the disaster. The study underlying this thesis was designed with this in mind. The aim was to use a sociocultural lens specifically developed to look at disaster-related elements, i.e. the Disaster Subculture (DsC) lens, and investigate people’s 27F experiences to learn more about their earthquake/ tsunami vulnerability and resilience in GC. The DsC lens focuses on mechanisms that people cultivate to cope with recurrent hazards. While applying it, it was complemented with a technological culture perspective. This was important because adaptations emerge from the interface of the natural, social, and technical. The DsC lens has its roots in the 1970s. Since then it’s conceptual development has been limited and it was mostly used by academics to refer or label disaster-related mechanisms that communities had developed to deal with recurrent hazards. It remains, however, the one conceptual framework that focusses on disaster-specific cultural assets. It was unclear however whether the lens would be fitting for this study. This is why the main study was preceded by one to ensure its appropriateness. The study had to establish that the lens still had contemporary relevance, could be applied outside the context it was developed in and could produce novel insights. This study investigated DsC in tw