How to Survive an Earthquake

[amberstar702]

Excerpt from a Life Saving Professional's Article-----


The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico

City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under their 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, 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. 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 They . are everywhere.



TEN 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 avoid 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.



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!



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.

[HAWK]

Are you expecting one some time soon?

[amberstar702]

This is for those people who live in earthquake zones. I remember hearing to "stand in a doorway" but this article says doing that is dangerous.

[pixelcop]

Originally Posted by amberstar702

I remember hearing to "stand in a doorway" but this article says doing that is dangerous.

I remember exactly the same - the doorway is the most secure part of the building which does not collapse as easily -, but maybe, this depends on the region you are living in and the way the buildings there are built.

[HAWK]

Originally Posted by amberstar702

This is for those people who live in earthquake zones. I remember hearing to "stand in a doorway" but this article says doing that is dangerous.

Nice. Good work.

[DA Master]

Originally Posted by HAWK

Are you expecting one some time soon?

If he is then he could could make a lot of money, telling people when earthquakes happen.

[amberstar702]

Originally Posted by DA Master

If he is then he could could make a lot of money, telling people when earthquakes happen.

Firstly, I am not a "he". My avatar is me, a female. WYSIWYG! Secondly, I received the earthquake message in an email yesterday from my ex son-in-law and felt it could be helpful for people living in earthquake prone areas. Thirdly, while I have some psychic abilities (really!), predicting earthquakes is not one of them. If I can provide some information to keep people safe, that is very rewarding.

[mark_W]

Originally Posted by amberstar702

Firstly, I am not a "he". My avatar is me, a female. WYSIWYG! Secondly, I received the earthquake message in an email yesterday from my ex son-in-law and felt it could be helpful for people living in earthquake prone areas. Thirdly, while I have some psychic abilities (really!), predicting earthquakes is not one of them. If I can provide some information to keep people safe, that is very rewarding.

Ive only ever been in one earthquake and that wasnt much of one but if I ever get in a serious one, I will remember some of the above!

[Indian]

A strong earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, struck the Nicobar Islands last night

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=India+earthquake

[operator]

Yeah, it's good to know, and an interesting read. The only time I was in an earthquake, I went for the doorway. It's a good thing the building didn't collapse, as it was the concete slab type.

[docquesting]

Always double check everything you might see posted online as facts first before trying it out.

[conradical]

Move out of California and Japan.

[Strypes]

Originally Posted by conradical

Move out of California and Japan.

Amen, course we had an earthquake in Ohio a few years ago.......not that I noticed, but alot of people claim we had one.......

I'm with ya though, best way to survive an earthquake is to not live near active plates, kinda hard to die in an earthquake if you live 3k miles away

Interesting read though, course most of it is common sence. They did leave out however; to get to the ground floor. Not much sence in balling up by your desk if your on the 30th floor, if the building colapses. That triangle isn't going to exist if the floor gives way.

Minor, yes but it should have been said.