{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T02:16:11Z","timestamp":1760148971888,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,14]],"date-time":"2023-06-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1686700800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012826","name":"Ministry of Energy, State of Israel","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["3-14604"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3-14604"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012826","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"University of Haifa","award":["3-14604"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3-14604"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Data"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The evaluation of earthquake damage is central to assessing its severity and damage characteristics. However, the methods of assessment encounter difficulties concerning the subjective judgments and interpretation of the evaluators. Thus, it is mainly geologists, seismologists, and engineers who perform this exhausting task. Here, we explore whether an evaluation made by semiskilled people and by the crowd is equivalent to the experts\u2019 opinions and, thus, can be harnessed as part of the process. Therefore, we conducted surveys in which a cohort of graduate students studying natural hazards (n = 44) and an online crowd (n = 610) were asked to evaluate the level of severity of earthquake damage. The two outcome datasets were then compared with the evaluation made by two of the present authors, who are considered experts in the field. Interestingly, the evaluations of both the semiskilled cohort and the crowd were found to be fairly similar to those of the experts, thus suggesting that they can provide an interpretation close enough to an expert\u2019s opinion on the severity level of earthquake damage. Such an understanding may indicate that although our analysis is preliminary and requires more case studies for this to be verified, there is vast potential encapsulated in crowd-sourced opinion on simple earthquake-related damage, especially if a large amount of data is to be handled.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/data8060108","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,15]],"date-time":"2023-06-15T01:32:57Z","timestamp":1686792777000},"page":"108","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["How Expert Is the Crowd? Insights into Crowd Opinions on the Severity of Earthquake Damage"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6567-7296","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Motti","family":"Zohar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5575-012X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amos","family":"Salamon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem 95501, Israel"}]},{"given":"Carmit","family":"Rapaport","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel"},{"name":"NIRED\u2014Institute for Regulation of Emergency and Disaster, College of Law and Business, Bnei Brak 511080, Israel"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"277","DOI":"10.1785\/BSSA0210040277","article-title":"Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale of 1931","volume":"21","author":"Wood","year":"1931","journal-title":"Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Medvedev, S.W., Sponheuer, W., and Karnik, V. (1965). Seismic Intensity Scale Version MSK 1964, United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"707","article-title":"Seismic scenarios and assessment of intensity: Some criteria for the use of the MCS scale","volume":"43","author":"Ferrari","year":"2000","journal-title":"Ann. Di Geofis."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Musson, R.M.W., and Ceci\u0107, I. (2012). New Manual of Seismological Observatory Practice (NMSOP), Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Gr\u00fcnthal, G. (1998, January 7\u201312). European Macroseismic Scale 1998 EMS-98. Proceedings of the European Seismological Commission, Luxembourg."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"759","article-title":"Implications of some early Jewish sources for estimates of earthquake hazard in the Holy Land","volume":"47","author":"Karcz","year":"2004","journal-title":"Ann. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1007\/s10950-005-8183-8","article-title":"Historical earthquakes in Jerusalem\u2014A methodological discussion","volume":"9","author":"Ambraseys","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Seismol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1023\/B:NHAZ.0000020255.00986.37","article-title":"Macroseismic surveys in theory and practice","volume":"31","author":"Musson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Nat. Hazards"},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"79","article-title":"Intensity assignments from historical earthquake data: Issues of certainty and quality","volume":"41","author":"Musson","year":"1998","journal-title":"Ann. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1007\/s10950-009-9172-0","article-title":"The comparison of macroseismic intensity scales","volume":"14","author":"Musson","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Seismol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101097","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijdrr.2019.101097","article-title":"Can volunteer crowdsourcing reduce disaster risk? A systematic review of the literature","volume":"35","author":"Kankanamge","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1007\/s10708-014-9602-6","article-title":"Data-driven geography","volume":"80","author":"Miller","year":"2015","journal-title":"GeoJournal"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1007\/s10708-007-9111-y","article-title":"Citizens as sensors: The world of volunteered geography","volume":"69","author":"Goodchild","year":"2007","journal-title":"GeoJournal"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envsoft.2011.11.015","article-title":"Geo-Wiki: An online platform for improving global land cover","volume":"31","author":"Fritz","year":"2012","journal-title":"Environ. Model. Softw."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11088","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1202383109","article-title":"Next-generation digital earth","volume":"109","author":"Goodchild","year":"2012","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1179\/1752270615Y.0000000013","article-title":"Quantitative evaluation of volunteered geographic information paradigms: Social location-based services case study","volume":"47","author":"Dror","year":"2015","journal-title":"Surv. Rev."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"64","DOI":"10.1108\/IJCS-08-2017-0013","article-title":"Literature review on collective intelligence: A crowd science perspective","volume":"2","author":"Yu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Crowd Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Kaplan, C.A. (2001, January 7\u201310). Collective intelligence: A new approach to stock price forecasting. Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. e-Systems and e-Man for Cybernetics in Cyberspace, Tucson, AZ, USA."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cities.2019.05.024","article-title":"Applying crowdsourcing techniques in urban planning: A bibliometric analysis of research and practice prospects","volume":"94","author":"Liao","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cities"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"410","DOI":"10.1080\/17538947.2015.1039609","article-title":"Assessing quality of volunteer crowdsourcing contributions: Lessons from the Cropland Capture game","volume":"9","author":"Salk","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Digit. Earth"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tavra, M., \u0160eri\u0107, L., Lisec, A., Ivanda, A., and Divi\u0107, M.G. (2021, January 8\u201311). Transforming Social Media Posts into Volunteered Geographic Information using Data Mining Methods. Proceedings of the 2021 6th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies (SpliTech), Bol and Split, Croatia.","DOI":"10.23919\/SpliTech52315.2021.9566369"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"708","article-title":"Twitter earthquake detection: Earthquake monitoring in a social world","volume":"54","author":"Earle","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ann. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9671.2012.01359.x","article-title":"# Earthquake: Twitter as a distributed sensor system","volume":"17","author":"Crooks","year":"2013","journal-title":"Trans. GIS"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101135","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijdrr.2019.101135","article-title":"Facebook and Whatsapp as disaster management tools during the Chennai (India) floods of 2015","volume":"39","author":"Bhuvana","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103720","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijdrr.2023.103720","article-title":"Spatiotemporal analysis in high resolution of tweets associated with the November 2016 wildfire in Haifa (Israel)","volume":"92","author":"Zohar","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"385","DOI":"10.1038\/nmeth.2855","article-title":"Sleep-spindle detection: Crowdsourcing and evaluating performance of experts, non-experts and automated methods","volume":"11","author":"Warby","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nat. Methods"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"See, L., Comber, A., Salk, C., Fritz, S., Van Der Velde, M., Perger, C., Schill, C., McCallum, I., Kraxner, F., and Obersteiner, M. (2013). Comparing the quality of crowdsourced data contributed by experts and non-experts. PloS ONE, 8.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0069958"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.3389\/feart.2019.00079","article-title":"Crowdsourcing platform toward seismic disaster reduction: The Taiwan scientific earthquake reporting (TSER) system","volume":"7","author":"Liang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"688","article-title":"USGS \u201cDid You Feel It?\u201d internet-based macroseismic intensity maps","volume":"54","author":"Wald","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ann. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.3389\/feart.2020.00272","article-title":"Accurate locations of felt earthquakes using crowdsource detections","volume":"8","author":"Steed","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9824","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.aau9824","article-title":"Crowdsourcing triggers rapid, reliable earthquake locations","volume":"5","author":"Steed","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Adv."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"985","DOI":"10.1785\/0220140229","article-title":"Macroseismic intensity assessment method for web questionnaires","volume":"86","author":"Tosi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Seismol. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Deatrick, E. (2016). Crowdsourced seismology. Eos, 97.","DOI":"10.1029\/2016EO051335"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"120","DOI":"10.3389\/feart.2020.00120","article-title":"USGS \u201cDid You Feel It?\u201d\u2014Science and Lessons From 20 Years of Citizen Science-Based Macroseismology","volume":"8","author":"Quitoriano","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"306","DOI":"10.1785\/0220130080","article-title":"How observer conditions impact earthquake perception","volume":"85","author":"Sbarra","year":"2014","journal-title":"Seismol. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"Avni, R. (1999). The 1927 Jericho Earthquake, Comprehensive Macroseismic Analysis Based on Contemporary Sources, Ben Gurion University."},{"key":"ref_37","first-page":"93","article-title":"A new estimate for the epicenter of the Jericho earthquake of 11 July 1927","volume":"42","author":"Shapira","year":"1993","journal-title":"Isr. J. Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jappgeo.2012.03.004","article-title":"Re-estimating the epicenter of the 1927 Jericho earthquake using spatial distribution of intensity data","volume":"82","author":"Zohar","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Appl. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Willis, B. (1927). To the Acting High Commissioner Lt-Col. G. S. Symes; Jerusalem, Israel, British National Archives, CO 733\/142\/13."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Symes, G.S. (1927). Earthquake Damage to Historic Buildings, Department of Antiquities."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Suckenic, L., and Peres, I. (1928). Jerusalem, Darom Publishing."},{"key":"ref_42","first-page":"9","article-title":"Notes on the Earthquake","volume":"11\u201312","author":"Michaeli","year":"1928","journal-title":"Constr. Ind."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"(Jewish Missionary Intelligence: Jerusalem, Israel, 1927). After the Earthquake, Jewish Missionary Intelligence: Jerusalem, Israel."},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"(Davar Tel Aviv, Israel, 1927). The Earthquake in Eretz Israel, Davar Tel Aviv, Israel."},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"(Haaretz Tel Aviv, Israel, 1927). The Earthquake in Eretz Israel, Haaretz Tel Aviv, Israel."},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"(Doar Hayom, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1927). The Earthquake, Doar Hayom, Tel Aviv, Israel."},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"(Haaretz, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1927). The Earthquake in Eretz Israel, Haaretz, Tel Aviv, Israel."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"(The Times, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1927). The Earthquake in Palestine, The Times, Tel Aviv, Israel."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"(The Palestine Bulletin, Jerusalem, Israel, 1927). Earthquake Turns Out a Real Catastrophe: Four Hundred Dead Bodies Recovered. Material Damage Exceeds Quarter Million Pounds, The Palestine Bulletin, Jerusalem, Israel."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"(The Palestine Bulletin; Jerusalem, Israel, 1927). Anglo Palestine Bank advertisement, The Palestine Bulletin; Jerusalem, Israel."},{"key":"ref_51","first-page":"127","article-title":"Rare collection of photographs following the 1927 earthquake","volume":"55\u201356","author":"Biger","year":"1991","journal-title":"ArielK"},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"912","DOI":"10.1785\/0220140009","article-title":"Earthquake damage and repair: New evidence from Jerusalem on the 1927 Jericho earthquake","volume":"85","author":"Zohar","year":"2014","journal-title":"Seismol. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1607","DOI":"10.1785\/BSSA0670061607","article-title":"A macroseismic study and the implications of structural damage of two recent major earthquakes in the Jordan rift","volume":"67","author":"Vered","year":"1977","journal-title":"Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"379","DOI":"10.5194\/se-10-379-2019","article-title":"Calibrating a new attenuation curve for the Dead Sea region using surface wave dispersion surveys in sites damaged by the 1927 Jericho earthquake","volume":"10","author":"Darvasi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Solid Earth"},{"key":"ref_55","first-page":"75","article-title":"The ruins in the chemistry building are revised. The Hebrew university competes with the damages of the earthquake of July 1927","volume":"171","author":"Selzer","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cathedra"},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"375","DOI":"10.1007\/s11069-009-9436-6","article-title":"Zones of required investigation for earthquake-related hazards in Jerusalem","volume":"53","author":"Salamon","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nat. Hazards"},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"469","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1021191824396","article-title":"Erroneous interpretation of historical documents related to the epicenter of the 1927 Jericho earthquake in the Holy Land","volume":"6","author":"Avni","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Seismol."},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1016\/0040-1951(87)90177-6","article-title":"Gaussian Probability Estimates for Large Earthquake Occurrence In The Jordan Valley, Dead-Sea Rift","volume":"141","author":"Rotstein","year":"1987","journal-title":"Tectonophysics"},{"key":"ref_59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/0031-9201(76)90005-4","article-title":"Tectonics, seismicity and structure of the Afro-Eurasian junction-the breaking of an Incoherent plate","volume":"12","author":"Nur","year":"1976","journal-title":"Phys. Earth Planet. Inter."},{"key":"ref_60","first-page":"127","article-title":"The American Colony and Its Photographers","volume":"Volume 1","author":"Schiller","year":"1984","journal-title":"Zev Vilnay\u2019s Jubilee volume"},{"key":"ref_61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"253","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-3121.1992.tb00480.x","article-title":"The earthquake of 1546 in the Holy Land","volume":"4","author":"Ambraseys","year":"1992","journal-title":"Terra Nova"},{"key":"ref_62","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"230","DOI":"10.1179\/1743130114Y.0000000016","article-title":"Why is the minaret so short? Evidence on earthquake damage in Mt. Zion","volume":"147","author":"Zohar","year":"2015","journal-title":"Palest. Explor. Q."},{"key":"ref_63","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1016\/0040-1951(93)90262-I","article-title":"Local site effects on weak and strong ground motion","volume":"218","author":"Aki","year":"1993","journal-title":"Tectonophysics"},{"key":"ref_64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1785\/0220190124","article-title":"Temporal and spatial patterns of seismic activity associated with the Dead Sea Transform (DST) during the past 3000 Yr","volume":"91","author":"Zohar","year":"2020","journal-title":"Seismol. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_65","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1785\/gssrl.77.1.30","article-title":"A new catalog of southern California earthquakes, 1800\u20132005","volume":"77","author":"Kagan","year":"2006","journal-title":"Seismol. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_66","first-page":"405","article-title":"The earthquake catalogues for Turkey","volume":"17","author":"Tan","year":"2008","journal-title":"Turk. J. Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_67","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1038\/s43247-023-00747-z","article-title":"Earthquake doublet in Turkey and Syria","volume":"4","author":"Ampuero","year":"2023","journal-title":"Commun. Earth Environ."},{"key":"ref_68","unstructured":"Peck, R., Olsen, C., and Devore, J.L. (2008). Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis, Thomson Brooks\/Cole. [3rd ed.]. International Student Edition."},{"key":"ref_69","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"591","DOI":"10.1093\/biomet\/52.3-4.591","article-title":"An analysis of variance test for normality","volume":"52","author":"Shapiro","year":"1965","journal-title":"Biometrika"}],"container-title":["Data"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2306-5729\/8\/6\/108\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T19:55:05Z","timestamp":1760126105000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2306-5729\/8\/6\/108"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,14]]},"references-count":69,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6]]}},"alternative-id":["data8060108"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/data8060108","relation":{},"ISSN":["2306-5729"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2306-5729"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,14]]}}}