[Sandwich]

...probably not what you should:

This is information concerning how to survive in an earthquake is very important and different from what we have been instructed to do before. Please take the time to read and circulate this. It could save lives.

If you are in a position of authority, leadership, or influence, you may want to act on this information.


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.

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 did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins I 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. 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, and 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 a void 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 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. Spread the word to everyone YOU care about and save someone's life!

[achtung]

Actually, that makes sense.

[Gortef]

Indeed it does. Good find, thank you for sharing

[Ulala]

Interesting, I was always told to do #6 when I was a kid.

[karajorma]

Actually, that makes sense.

Pity the entire thing is a complete crock of **** then isn't it.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/triangle.asp


Seriously. Why do people who have been on the internet for longer than five minutes believe this kind of ****e instead of looking it up on snopes immediately?

[Tamlin]

Considering I'm not in a earthquake zone. i'd first sh** myself and then bury myself in a f**kin' snow bank. though there's no snow yet,just cold.

[redsniper]

"Triangle of Life" sounds silly anyway.

[Rictor]

Actually, that makes sense.

Pity the entire thing is a complete crock of **** then isn't it.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/triangle.asp

Well, in truth Snopes doesn't say it's a croc of ****, just that the guy appears to be an asshole and is less knowledgeable than he present himself to be.  Some of the advice seems to be pretty common-sense stuff, so I wouldn't necessarily do the opposite. Ducking under an object looks, from my uninformed perspective, to be kind of a stupid move unless you're ducking under something that won't crumple under huge wieght.

[Taristin]

A lot of it definately sounds wrong. #8 for example. I dont buy whatsoever.

[Mefustae]

A lot of it definately sounds wrong. #8 for example. I dont buy whatsoever.

But isn't it just common sense? I mean, if you're in the middle of a building, rescuers have to dig through a larger distance to get to you, where as if you're near the outer walls of a building, the distance is far less.

[Dysko]

I think #8 means something like "as soon as the earthquake is over, GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!!!!!", thing that is a bit difficult if you are in the middle of the building.

BTW, the funny thing is that some times ago, our PE teacher told us what to do in case of earthquake/fire/gas leak/terrorist attack/Shivan invasion etc.
In case of earthquake, he told us to get under the desks or doorways and, as soon as it is over, run down the stairs

Actually, he also told us, in case of gas leak, to lay down on the floor because methane is lighter than air. But in case of a propane leak, we are all'doomed...

[karajorma]

I'd say your teacher was probably far closer to the truth than you gave him credit for.

Well, in truth Snopes doesn't say it's a croc of ****, just that the guy appears to be an asshole and is less knowledgeable than he present himself to be.

On one hand you have you have an internationally recognised organisation which has rescued people from the site of many, many disasters. On the other hand you have Doug Copp who (and lets be fair to him) is a complete ****.

If you think his advice is the better one of the two feel free to follow it.

Some of the advice seems to be pretty common-sense stuff, so I wouldn't necessarily do the opposite. Ducking under an object looks, from my uninformed perspective, to be kind of a stupid move unless you're ducking under something that won't crumple under huge wieght.

Ever heard of a crumple zone?

The Snopes page also links to a proper scientific explanation of why this is a crock of ****. I didn't think you'd need it spelled out but here are some of the gems from that page.

*If your building tilts in one direction, the "large and heavy object" that you are near, could crush you against the wall....

*The problem is similar: observing a crushed car with a life safe void next to it doesn't mean much. The car itself may have moved after the shaking started.  There is a lot of evidence of cars and truck overturning in strong shaking. If everyone got out of their cars and got down next to them, a lot of people would be dead or seriously injured from the weight of the car jumping or sliding on them.

*Copp likes to base his evidence on the Turkish "experiment" that he was involved with. [SNIP] What is the problem with this?  Simply this: To collapse the building, they  rammed the columns, causing the building to pancake. They did NOT simulate an earthquake. [SNIP]Since this experiment didn't produce anything resembling shaking it really doesn't tell us anything at all about what would happen during an earthquake. It could be that the large and heavy furniture would end up at the other end of the room, nowhere near where it began.

*Suppose that our advice could save 1,000 people from death in pancaked buildings (highly unlikely) but if it also put .00007 percent of all the people who felt the shaking at risk of death and serious injury we would have done more harm than good.

*Copp also says "Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible...because of the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked."  There is no evidence of this. A contrary hypothesis suggests that especially in concrete building with infill tile walls, the tiles fall out and so could you.

*Copp says "If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. Actually, the safest people in earthquakes in both California and Turkey were those who stayed in bed.  If the building tilts and the bed moves... the foot of the bed probably isn't the best place to be.

In fact they only agree with two of Cobb's statements out of the whole thing. This doesn't mean that the entire thing isn't a crock of ****. Even a broken clock is right twice a day after all.

So in an effort to undo this nonsense here is what they say you should do.

What to Do During an Earthquake

Stay as safe as possible during an earthquake. Be aware that some earthquakes are actually foreshocks and a larger earthquake might occur. Minimize your movements to a few steps to a nearby safe place and stay indoors until the shaking has stopped and you are sure exiting is safe.
If indoors

    * DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON on until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.
    * Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
    * Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
    * Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.
    * Stay inside until shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.
    * Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.
    * DO NOT use the elevators.

If outdoors

    * Stay there.
    * Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.
    * Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits, and alongside exterior walls. Many of the 120 fatalities from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred when people ran outside of buildings only to be killed by falling debris from collapsing walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.

If in a moving vehicle

    * Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires.
    * Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped. Avoid roads, bridges, or ramps that might have been damaged by the earthquake.

If trapped under debris

    * Do not light a match.
    * Do not move about or kick up dust.
    * Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
    * Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.

[Nuke]

we had one a few weeks ago, a 5.something, i pretty much just enjoyed the ride.

[Ulala]

I always sleep through the earthquakes here.. never experienced one. 

..... *knocks on wood* 

[Dysko]

I live in a zone with a low earthquake risk (until the next earthquake ).
In the past 5 years there have been 2 very light earthquakes, but I didn't notice them. Only some classmates noticed them because they live in high-storeys flats.

[Thor]

the ottawa area (according to friends) had a very very minor, As in...hey....is the ground moving?  yes, i do think it is.  oh, how novel"  of what the first article certainly makes sense to me...but what makes the most sense is to not live in an earthquake zone.

[Sandwich]

Ironically, Israel just had a couple of minor earthquakes last night. I didn't notice.

[neo_hermes]

What would i do in an earthquake? grab as many glasses as i could, smash them on the ground outside the house and lay on them. prolly the safest i can be.

[spartan_0214]

Or, how about we just live in a place like New Mexico or Colorado where we don't get Earthquakes...

[Mars]

Yeah... four corners area has the fewest natural disasters int the world.

I feel safe here (Watch me get shot at school Monday)