Protect Yourself During an Earthquake...Drop, Cover, and Hold On!

The 2011 Great California ShakeOut is being organized statewide for October 20st at 10:20 a.m. Register today!    

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The ShakeOut drill will be held on the third Thursday of October each year, and other states are also discussing having ShakeOut drills beginning in 2011.

More than 7.9 million Californians participated in 2010, practicing Drop, Cover, and Hold On and other aspects of family, school, and organizational emergency plans.

WHAT RESCUERS AND EXPERTS *DO NOT* RECOMMEND YOU DO DURING AN EARTHQUAKE

Based on years of research about how people are injured or killed during earthquakes, and the experiences of U.S. and international search and rescue teams, these three actions are not recommended to protect yourself during earthquakes:

DO NOT run outside or to other rooms during shaking: The area near the exterior walls of a building is the most dangerous place to be. Windows, facades and architectural details are often the first parts of the building to collapse. To stay away from this danger zone, stay inside if you are inside and outside if you are outside. Also, shaking can be so strong that you will not be able to move far without falling down, and objects may fall or be thrown at you that you do not expect. Injuries can be avoided if you drop to the ground before the earthquake drops you.

DO NOT stand in a doorway: An enduring earthquake image of California is a collapsed adobe home with the door frame as the only standing part. From this came our belief that a doorway is the safest place to be during an earthquake. True- if you live in an old, unreinforced adobe house or some older woodframe houses. In modern houses, doorways are no stronger than any other part of the house, and the doorway does not protect you from the most likely source of injury- falling or flying objects. You also may not be able to brace yourself in the door during strong shaking. You are safer under a table.

The "triangle of life" advice (always get next to a table rather than underneath it) is based on several wrong assumptions:

• buildings always collapse in earthquakes (wrong- especially in developed nations, and flat "pancake" collapse is rare anywhere);
• when buildings collapse they always crush all furniture inside (wrong- people DO survive under furniture or other shelters);
• people can always anticipate how their building might collapse and anticipate the location of survivable void spaces (wrong- the direction of shaking and unique structural aspects of the building make this nearly impossible) ; and
• during strong shaking people can move to a desired location (wrong- strong shaking can make moving very difficult and dangerous).

Some other recommendations in the "triangle of life" e-mail are also based on wrong assumptions and very hazardous. For example, the recommendation to get out of your car during an earthquake and lay down next to it assumes that there is always an elevated freeway above you that will fall and crush your car. Of course there are very few elevated freeways, and laying next to your car is very dangerous because the car can move and crush you, and other drivers may not see you on the ground! A compilation of rebuttals from many organizations to these alternative recommendations, as well as news articles about the controversy, is listed at left.

PRACTICE THE RIGHT THING TO DO¡K IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE

You will be more likely to react quickly when shaking begins if you have actually practiced how to protect yourself on a regular basis. A great time to practice Drop, Cover, and Hold On is by participating in the Great California ShakeOut this October (and soon in other areas).

More information about what to do during an earthquake can be found at www.earthquakecountry.info/roots/step5.html.

courtesy of Cal EMA

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