Luvin1stdegree 0 Posted September 4, 2004 I received this email today and thought it made some sense. I wanted to share with anyone who may be near a faultline. Click For Spoiler What You Were Taught About Earthquakes Was Wrong EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE "TRIANGLE OF LIFE", Edited by Larry Linn for MAA Safety Committee brief on 4/13/04. 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 (UNX051 -UNIENET) 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 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. I trained the Fire Department of Trujillo (population 750,000) in how to survive, take care of their families, and to rescue others in earthquakes. The chief of rescue in the Trujillo Fire Department is a professor at Trujillo University. He accompanied me everywhere. He gave personal testimony: "My name is Roberto Rosales. I am Chief of Rescue in Trujillo. When I was 11 years old, I was trapped inside of a collapsed building. My entrapment occurred during the earthquake of 1972 that killed 70,000 people. I survived in the "triangle of life" that existed next to my brother's motorcycle. My friends who got under the bed and under desks were crushed to death [he gives more details, names, addresses etc.]...I am the living example of the "triangle of life". My dead friends are the example of "duck and cover". TIPS DOUG COPP PROVIDES: 1) Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE is crushed to death -- Every time, without exception. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are always crushed. 2) 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. 3) 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. 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 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. 6) Everybody 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. 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. 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, says the autho Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BakulaBabe 2 Posted September 4, 2004 Thanks for sharing that. I live in Los Angeles County, Southern California, and I'm very interested in new information concerning earthquake preperation and survival. I've ALWAYS heard "duck & cover" to keep from getting clobbered by falling debris, but getting squashed under the thing I'm ducking under is something I only consider during a quake. I'll definitely give it more thought more often. It makes sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrWho42 13 Posted September 4, 2004 Hmmmm, I live along the San Andreas fault line.... In the city of Indio, although it has been sometime since I heard about earthquakes, my parents bought an excess amount of food and such in preparation for an earthquake... I'm just wondering about the asteroid 4179 Toutatis myself. ^_^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mj 7 Posted September 4, 2004 Someone ought to get that info out during Earthquake Awareness week ( or month ot whatever). But I think they might need to discuss what advice is best based on how well the building is constructed. If the building is constructed well enough so that it is not likely to collaspe up to a certain intensity, the current advice may be best. I am talking about the scenario where there is falling debris, but not a total collapse. I was living in California during the October '89 quake, and was in the interior of a multi-story building. We did everything the post said not to do...one person stood in the doorway, I ducked under a desk. But our concrete and steel building was designed to sway, and sway it did! Then everyone in the building walked down the stairs and out the doors, safe and sound. In that particular case the major danger was from a tile or two falling from the ceiling, but not a complete ceiling collapse. If I still lived in California, I would want to see the merits of this position discussed thoroughly! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrWho42 13 Posted September 5, 2004 Mmmm, isn't there supposed to be an earthquake for today? According to this article, there will be one measuring at least 6.4 on the Richter scale for today... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites