With the awareness of the tragedy unfolding in China and
Japan, the following advice is valuable.
Where to be During an Earthquake.
Do you remember that advice about hiding under a table
or standing in a doorway? Well, this man has a reverse
opinion.
It is an eye opener and opposite of what we’ve been taught!
We have all been told to, ‘duck and cover’ or stand in a doorway
during an earthquake. These findings are impressive and logical
and should be remembered if you are ever in an earthquake!
Read this and pass the info to your family members and friends living in or visiting
earthquake prone locations as it could save their lives someday!
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP’S ARTICLE ON THE: ‘TRIANGLE OF LIFE’
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 its 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.
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
-
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. -
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. -
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. -
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 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. -
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! -
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. -
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 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. -
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.
Spread the word and save someone’s life… The Entire world is
experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!
In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be
correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul , University of
Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical,
scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside.
Ten mannequins used ‘duck and cover,’ and ten mannequins used in my
‘triangle of life’ survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse
we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document
the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly
observable, scientific conditions , relevant to building collapse, showed there
would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.
There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using
my method of the ‘triangle of life.’ This film has been seen by millions
of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen
in the USA , Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.
Originally published June 16th, 2008 on Fly Anglers Online by Warren Patterson.