EARTHQUAKE

[one...two...tree 2,762]

When I'm not sure...I just think what Chuck Norris would do.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

When I'm not sure...I just think what Chuck Norris would do.

Probably something similar to the first Superman movie - dive into the earth and push apart the tectonic plates with his bare hands...

[Marilyn. 340]

they were saying that there were about 27 aftershocks with the highest being 3.6

5 percent chance of this being a fore shock and that diminishes down to 1 percent after 24 hours...

[Scott & Lai 12]

Earthquake Procedures - Employee Instructions:

• Duck down under a desk or sturdy furniture,

I read recently that getting under a desk or the like isn't the best idea. Often people are crushed under furniture they were hiding under when it collapsed. Crouching next to furniture is better, since if the ceiling falls, it will land on and crush the furniture, but a cavity will be created next to the furniture.

Aren't you supposed to get in doorways or something?

That one has also been debunked. Doors can swing in an earthquake, and cause injury if you are in them.

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

79 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 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, therefore, the greater the probability when

the person 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

1) People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed to death.

Almost everyone who do the wrongly preached 'ducks and covers' routine when

buildings collapse, are crushed to death.

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. Your can preserve your limbs better instead

of facing amputation afterwards. 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 survivable 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 duringan earthquake.

5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out of

the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to

a sofa, or large chair.

6) Never stand under a doorway ! Almost everyone who gets 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 as near to an outside wall of the building as possible (Or

Outside Of Them) *** Get yourself as near to an outside wall of the building

as possible, instead of being in 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. 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, paper do not compact. Large voids are

found surrounding stacks of paper.

Edited July 29, 2008 by Scott & Lai

[perfect 39]

I thought my building about 20 miles south of LA was never going to stop shaking. I'm on the 11th floor - everything fell off the window sills, and for about a minute afterwards you could feel the building just swaying from side to side - it was really nauseating. Then for about 40 minutes afterwards I couldn't use my cell phone!

SCARY!! Everyone on my floor is really on edge this afternoon....

[Mrs. BB 0]

Here in San Diego we felt it.

The building I work in is in the 92123 zip code. We had blinds swaying on the windows and felt the building roll a bit.

We were all at our desks when we looked at eachother and paused for a moment and someone said, "Yup...its a quake." We paused a moment more and then it subsided. Then it was back to work as usual.

Being a Native Californian and through several quakes you just kinda wait to see if they intensify.

Most of the time you won't feel them or you will sleep right through them.

[Mrs. BB 0]

Santa Monica in '99 was bad too...

The one in Paso Robles in 2003 was pretty nasty. That killed 3 people I believe.

Think it was a 6.5...

[jodee 30]

OK,..I was sitting on the couch,..and hubby was behind me in the dining room, and so were the kids,....i said,..Is the couch shaking, or is it just me,...They all said,..it's just you!!

HA!!,....now the kids are seeing it on the news and going WOW,...and hubby swears he never felt it,...but he is a So Cal native,..so he never notices them. We are in the 92310 zip code, about 187 geographical miles from the epicentre,..and I felt it!!

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Was rather an interesting experience here on the 7th floor. I've been given the rest of the day and tomorrow off, just in case this was a prequake!

hmmm, I hope this is not the case but it sounds like a pretty good excuse to not do any work.

[no name 1]

Just had a 3.6 by Chino Hills again.....they need to be decreasing, not increasing!!!

[Scott & Lai 12]

Someone on the news just said that for CA newcomers, "this was the scariest things since sliced bread." Um...can we say "mixed metaphor"?

Just had a 3.6 by Chino Hills again.....they need to be decreasing, not increasing!!!

That's not quite how it works....

[no name 1]

Just had a 3.6 by Chino Hills again.....they need to be decreasing, not increasing!!!

That's not quite how it works....

Oh do tell, earthquake expert....

[Mrs. BB 0]

Someone on the news just said that for CA newcomers, "this was the scariest things since sliced bread." Um...can we say "mixed metaphor"?

I dunno....pumpernickle can be rather intimidating.

[Peikko 1,575]

Was rather an interesting experience here on the 7th floor. I've been given the rest of the day and tomorrow off, just in case this was a prequake!

hmmm, I hope this is not the case but it sounds like a pretty good excuse to not do any work.

What can I say? I have a great boss and he just decided we all needed the rest of the day off, after taking us out to lunch and that as there was a 5% chance that within the next 24 hours there would be a greater quake the math dictated we have tomorrow off too. I am not complaining. My son said it hardly shook at all here in the appartment, but on the 7th floor, well, it was very wierd, but I can't say I was scared.

Thanks for the interesting reading re what to do during an eq, I'll remember that for next time and maybe I might even move.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

For me it's the scariest thing since that really bad storm in Detroit in 1980 when the sky turned green - I'm sure Nags remembers it.