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Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst presented findings at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting from the first qualitative U.S. study examining how deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing individuals experience earthquake early warning systems. The team spoke with eight DHH university students about their past experiences with earthquakes, their access to ShakeAlert and similar systems, and what barriers they encountered.
The study identified four recurring gaps: emergency alerts are not delivered in American Sign Language, alert messages are unclear for people who do not rely on audio, delivery methods are inaccessible to deafblind users, and there is insufficient access to earthquake preparedness information and training for DHH communities.
The researchers concluded that these gaps reduce trust in warning systems and may compromise people's ability to take protective action in time. They recommended involving DHH individuals as foundational participants in the design of early warning systems.
The study team itself was composed of deaf, hard of hearing, late-hard of hearing, and hearing researchers.
Learn more here.
