Men Facing Earthquakes: The Example of Rognes (Bouches-du-Rhône, France)

Cécile Quesada

This article’s purpose is to show that men, confronted by earthquakes, natural disasters of telluric origin, do not ignore them, as one would think a priori considering the scale and unpredictability of these events. On the contrary, humans socially appropriate them through cultural tools (ideal and material). This paper is based on a field study conducted in a French community whose inhabitants have transformed a past earthquake into a primary symbol of their collective identity, and are now elaborating social means with the purpose of managing the seismic risk that threatens them.

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