I think I heard this on Les Stroud’s Surviving Disasters, but North America is unique in that many places haven’t been largely inhabited for enough time to find out they are prone to disasters (some definitely are but people are stubborn enough to go back). Whereas, ancient Asians and Europeans may have had the chance in the past to relocate out of floodplains or other disaster-prone areas, for example.
I think I heard this on Les Stroud’s Surviving Disasters, but North America is unique in that many places haven’t been largely inhabited for enough time to find out they are prone to disasters (some definitely are but people are stubborn enough to go back). Whereas, ancient Asians and Europeans may have had the chance in the past to relocate out of floodplains or other disaster-prone areas, for example.
There are some examples of what you describe, such as the the lack of written records meaning that residents of the Pacific Northwest US not being aware of the earthquake and tsunami risk until recently, but knowledge doesn’t result in people actually taking action to keep people out of harms way. There are great examples in Europe and Asia of people simply staying in risky spots for a variety of reasons, such as the large population living around Vesuvius or in parts of Bangladesh which flood during typhoons.