I rode out the Northridge earthquake securely (or so I thought) braced in my bedroom doorway. Based on this excerpt from Doug Copp's article entitled The Triangle of Life it was the wrong place to seek refuge from the rock and roll of an earthquake. Worse yet, I had all four of my children standing in their doorways too!
Callifornia is earthquake country, and although they do not occur very often, it's nice to know what to do when one does happen. Here are the new rules for surviving The Big One!
TEN TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Do Not Duck and Cover
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) Triangles Save Lives
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) Wonderful Wood
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) Roll Out of Bed
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) Curl-Up
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) Do Not Stand in Doorways.
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 aw ay 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) Get Outside That Car
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) Choose a Void
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.
Norma Toering & Team RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty
(310) 493-8333 / Office Phone: (310) 831-0800
South Bay Los Angeles cities I sell real estate and homes in: Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Long Beach, Torrance, Lomita, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach.
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