Mayon Volcano Residents’ Construction of Eruptions: A Phenomenological Study of Risk Communication

Abstract

This study aimed to understand risk communication through the lens of the Phenomenological Tradition of Communication Theory that theorized communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue. I took on this study to gain an in-depth understanding of shared lived experiences. The nature of my work brought me to the field during the 2014 Mayon Volcano eruptive episode. This opened the opportunity to engage in dialogue with residents about their stories of eruptions. I have read and re-read and made sense of the transcribed interview of six (6) selected participants. In the stories shared, emergent are the three dimensions of participants have shared meaning structures and view eruptions as gradational. The gradational view of eruptions is constituted by the participants’ expressed language of their experience and knowledge. These include articulations of observed progression of changes whether visual- by the color of smoke or thickness of ash, auditory- by the loudness of sound that is heard, and strength of shaking that is felt. When is a gradational view of eruptions is translated into action- two typologies emerged: evacuation and non-evacuation. Phenomenological research studies in disasters, specifically focused on understanding risk communication in volcano setting, is relatively an uncharted field, and based on the results of this work, shows potential to contribute to knowledge generation if further pursued.