The situation in Japan is considered to be the natural disaster. Russians are confident that the accident at the "Fukushima-1" power plant poses threat to Russia.
MOSCOW, March 31, 2011. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data about what Russians think about the nature of the disasters in Japan, as well as whether the accident at the "Fukushima-1" power plant poses a threat to ecological situation in Russia.
According to Russians, the disasters happened in Japan are viewed as natural ones (64%). At the same time, one quarter of respondents think the earthquake was caused by human intervention in nature, changing climate and landscape (26%). Those who think the disasters were caused by the egoism of the Japanese and their striving for material wealth are in the minority (7%).
Those who think that what happened in Japan was a natural catastrophe are basically Muscovites and St.Petersburgians (77%), adherents of "United Russia" and "Fair Russia" parties (67% for each group) and elderly respondents (68%). Those who think the catastrophe was caused by the human activities are mainly residents of middle cities (30%), LDPR party supporters (31%), younger respondents rather than the retired persons (28% versus 22% respectively).
Two-thirds of Russians are afraid of the deterioration of the ecological situation due to the "Fukushima-1" disaster (66%). They are mainly residents of middle cities (71%), and women (71%). Twenty percent of respondents think the catastrophe in Japan will not have any impact on Russia. Those who are optimistic are metropolitan residents (29%), men (30%) and Russians aged 18-24 (31%).
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on 26-27 March, 2011. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin oferror does not exceed 3.4%.
Which of the following statements about the nature of the catastrophe in Japan do you most agree? | ||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | More than 500thousand | 100 - 500 thousand | Less than100 | Rural area |
This is likely to be a natural disaster | 64 | 77 | 69 | 61 | 62 | 61 |
This is likely to have happened due to human intervention in nature, changing climate and the landscape of the earth | 26 | 17 | 24 | 30 | 26 | 28 |
This is not a simple natural disaster; this is a punishment for the egoism of the Japanese, their striving for the material wealth, their loss of moral values | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
I do not know anything about the situation in Japan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Hard to tell | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
In your opinion, is there any threat of deterioration of the ecological situation in Russia due to the accident at the "Fukushima-1" power plant? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | More than 500thousand | 100 - 500 thousand | Less than 100 | Rural area |
Rather yes | 66 | 56 | 67 | 71 | 65 | 69 |
Rather no | 24 | 29 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 22 |
Hard to tell | 9 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 10 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!