All right, pippa. I’m posting an excerpt from an article on earthquake survival. Yes, I am! You may never be in an earthquake. I mean, I really hope you’re not. BUT just in case — and because the Easter earthquake out here was, uh, scary — I’m posting this. It’s fascinating because it goes against everything anyone has ever been taught about earthquake survival, but it also makes complete sense to me.
It’s not thrilling reading, but it IS informative. My blog is now a PSA. Great. It’s because of the love, naturally.
So, yeah, read on, Macduff!! Survive those Midwest earthquakes!!
My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world’s most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries.
I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under his desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. 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.
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 I call the “triangle of life.” The larger the object, the stronger, and the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, and the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the “triangles” you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape you will see in a collapsed building.
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Most everyone who simply “ducks and covers” when buildings collapse are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
2) Cats, dogs, and babies often naturally 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.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. 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. (So be in wooden buildings at all times, pippa. Like yurts. This is somewhat less helpful information.)
4) 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.5) If an earthquake happens 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.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed! (He’s not a super cheery fellow, is he?)
7) Never go to 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 — 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 fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) 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.
9) People inside of 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 Freeway. 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. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper. (Woo hoo for all the pack rats, I guess).
Spread the word and save someone’s life …
Uhm, so there you go. Sorry to bring the room down.
But, then, you can find “triangle of life” now, can’t you?
Wowza, that does go against everything I was taught as a kid. Growing up in SoCal and NoCal we were always taught to get under the desk or get into a doorway. Damn know-it-all teachers wanted to get me crushed or cut in half. And I thought Ms. Kelly loved me.
P.S. I look forward to your zombie preparedness PSA, the triangle of life won’t protect us from them.
Hi,
Unfortunately you posted this without doing a google search- almost everyone agrees this is wrong and dangerous information. The person who wrote it is NOT the expert he claims to be, and the actions in the message will kill people! For example, he wants you to get out of your car on the freeway in case the road above falls on you, but its very rare when there is a road above you. Can you imagine if you get out and lay next to your car, and the people behind you do not see you when they swerve to avoid your car? Also, buildings rarely collapse in the US and even in other places it is unpredictable. And if they do they rarely crush everything inside. He is wrong that EVERYONE dies who are under desks. Millions of people have been under desks in earthquakes and survived. The main point is that the desks or table protect you from all the stuff flying or falling in the room, which research shows causes most of the injuries in our earthquakes.
Please visit this page to learn more: http://www.earthquakecountry.info/dropcoverholdon
It has links to many organizations pages and also information about the guy who wrote what you posted, and how he has been discredited.
Brian- In response to your post… Ms. Kelly loved you
Brian — It’s totally the opposite, isn’t it? But, again, makes sense to me. Hope I never have to find out whether it works.
Those zombies! The triangle of life is very zomb-friendly, I imagine. No bueno.
Yeah, who started that doorjamb thing, anyway?
Re #5–I’m confused. He says “roll off the bed” but then says lie at the bottom of the bed. Does he mean the foot? So you would roll off the bed down that way? I need earthquake survival visuals, darnit! I did feel a tiny tremor in this area years ago as a kid, so I totally have to prepare for East Coast earthquakes!
Kate P — I think as long as you’re smushed up against the bed, you’re fine. Although, look. I’m now going to look for the absolute BIGGEST thing I can find to smush up against during an earthquake. I mean, a bed is a little too low to the ground for me. What is it? 18 inches? It may provide a “triangle of life” but no way would it provide enough room for me to have my inevitable claustrophobic panic attack.
Shoot, I’m a bit claustrophobic, too! I hadn’t thought of that.
I have family near Mexico City. . . we don’t talk about this stuff, but I guess I should ask them what they’ve been told to do.
John —
You went into moderation because you’re a new commenter. Generally, I don’t approve comments from first-time commenters who call attention to their own blog or website in the comment. It’s a bit self-serving, in my opinion. Also, this is a personal blog. I find I’m generally able to post about my life without researching Google first. I’m not the primary online source of information for earthquake preparedness and I think my readers know that.
However, I’m sure you know more about this than I do, so I approved your comment.
People can decide for themselves, I guess.
Why are we now not able to come to a consensus about what the heck to do in an earthquake??
It’s all about the voids, apparently.
The best earthquake preparation is to move to the Dakotas or something. Maybe Kansas. Everyone agrees on what to do during a tornado.
Keeping that in mind, nf, stay away from Charleston. Our last major earthquake was a 7.3 in 1886 and we’re WAY over due for another one. Worse, we’ve had a few tornadoes in the last couple of years and, of course, there was Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Still, like living in Southern California or San Fran, the risks are well worth it compared to the benefits.
As to the best advice for earthquakes, I can go both ways. Doug, makes some great points IF collapse of the structure is likely. Which being a rescue team manager is what he sees in every situation that calls for his services. John is probably more correct although his arguments would be more well received if couched in a less condescending manner (yeah, I know, “pot, meet kettle). The problem is that like Doug, all we see via the news is the worst damage of an earthquake which is the collapsed buildings and infrastructure. What we don’t see is the 95%-99% on RELATIVELY intact structures that look like disasters inside where standing in a doorway or underneath a strong piece of furniture would prevent major injuries or death.
In the 1886 earthquake in Charleston, the buildings actually bulged out along the longitudinal axis (think townhouses bulging out out toward the street and in the back). The houses that failed had the bricks collapsing to the outside instead of to the inside like Doug suggests. I guess it all depends on what kind of structure you’re in when an earthquake strikes…
So despite, what John says, I think this is still valuable advice, Tracey. I wonder how many people died in Haiti following advice meant for earthquake prone areas with strict construction rules?