The earth-shaking truths about earthquakes
September 19, 2004 | 12:00am
Early morning last Thursday, I was awakened by the vigorous shaking of a rather strong earthquake. While the building I live in shook like crazy, I instinctively recited formula prayers between horrifying flashes of the crumbling Ruby Tower (the building that totally collapsed many years back) and the Baguio Hyatt Terraces (a resort hotel leveled to the ground leaving hundreds dead).
We have been taught that during an earthquake we should: 1) duck and run for cover, 2) stand under a doorjamb, 3) get under something heavy like a table or bed, or 4) run to the ground as fast as you can.
New studies have shown that if you do these, your chances for surviving a strong trembler are almost nil, nada.
It was indeed timely that my friend, Elizabeth Reyes from Los Angeles (another earthquake-prone place!) recently forwarded me an e-mail on what to do during an earthquake and how to survive a big one.
Douglas F. Copp is an earthquake and disaster expert. He has crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and is a member of many rescue teams from many countries. He was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years and has worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985. Copp is the Rescue Chief of the American Rescue Team International in Alameda, California.
The first building Copp crawled inside was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under his desk and all were crushed to their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. He thought, "It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn’t at the time know that the children were told to hide under something."
Copp discovered and now advocates what he calls the "triangle of life." Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them! This space is what he calls the "triangle of life." The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact; the less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured.
Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" when buildings collapse are crushed to death, without exception. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are always crushed.
Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/ survival instinct; you can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. The reason is simple: The wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room, telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
If an earthquake happens while you are watching television and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
Everybody who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward, you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the doorjamb falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
Never head for the stairs. The stairs have a different moment of frequency (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads. They are horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn’t collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by screaming, fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
Get near the outer walls of buildings or outside of them if possible. It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
People inside their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Free way. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. Be sure and watch out for skidding vehicles. All the crushed cars had voids three feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
Furthermore, it is rare for the ground outside buildings to open up and so the safest place to be in an earthquake is outside. Since unfolded paper does not compress, stacks of paper can make excellent triangles of life. Copp observed how boxes of newspapers could hold up whole buildings and now recommends that schools and other public buildings construct simple wood frames around piles of paper and put these in strategic positions. Rather than schoolchildren lying down under their desks and waiting to be killed, they can instead shelter in the voids by these safe islands.
It is most important that when an earthquake occurs, you must keep your cool. Think clearly and look for your triangle of life! If you are in a multi-story building and real tragedy occurs (like the building collapses), run to the top floor. If you run down, you’ll have many floors crumbling down on you; if you are on the top deck, your chances of being rescued will be better.
For more info, you may contact the American Rescue Team International, PO Box 489, Alameda, CA 94501, USA (e-mail: amerrescue@aol.com or americanrescueteam@msn.com; web: www.amerrescue.org).
To contact the author, text DERO, space, your message, and send to 2920, or e-mail DeroSeminar@yahoo.com. Thanks for all your encouraging words and heartwarming comments!
New studies have shown that if you do these, your chances for surviving a strong trembler are almost nil, nada.
It was indeed timely that my friend, Elizabeth Reyes from Los Angeles (another earthquake-prone place!) recently forwarded me an e-mail on what to do during an earthquake and how to survive a big one.
The first building Copp crawled inside was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under his desk and all were crushed to their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. He thought, "It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn’t at the time know that the children were told to hide under something."
Copp discovered and now advocates what he calls the "triangle of life." Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them! This space is what he calls the "triangle of life." The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact; the less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured.
Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/ survival instinct; you can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. The reason is simple: The wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room, telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
If an earthquake happens while you are watching television and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
Everybody who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward, you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the doorjamb falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
Never head for the stairs. The stairs have a different moment of frequency (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads. They are horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn’t collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by screaming, fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
Get near the outer walls of buildings or outside of them if possible. It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
People inside their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Free way. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. Be sure and watch out for skidding vehicles. All the crushed cars had voids three feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
Furthermore, it is rare for the ground outside buildings to open up and so the safest place to be in an earthquake is outside. Since unfolded paper does not compress, stacks of paper can make excellent triangles of life. Copp observed how boxes of newspapers could hold up whole buildings and now recommends that schools and other public buildings construct simple wood frames around piles of paper and put these in strategic positions. Rather than schoolchildren lying down under their desks and waiting to be killed, they can instead shelter in the voids by these safe islands.
For more info, you may contact the American Rescue Team International, PO Box 489, Alameda, CA 94501, USA (e-mail: amerrescue@aol.com or americanrescueteam@msn.com; web: www.amerrescue.org).
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