[GeoStL] NCR
- From: Bernie <happykraut@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 22:02:30 -0500
-
How to survive an earthquake
Should you stand in a door way during an earthquake? Read on......
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE "TRIANGLE OF LIFE"
Edited by Larry Linn for MAA Safety Committee brief on 4/13/04.
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
ofmany rescue teams from many countries. I was the United Nations expert in
Disaster Mitigation (UNX051 -UNIENET) 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
oflife" 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
timeknow 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.
I trained the Fire Department of Trujillo (population 750,000) in how to
survive, take care of their families, and to rescue others in earthquakes.
The chief of rescue in the Trujillo Fire Department is a professor at
Trujillo University. He accompanied me everywhere. He gave this personal
testimony:
"My name is Roberto Rosales. I am Chief of Rescue in Trujillo. When I was
11years old, I was trapped inside of a collapsed building. My entrapment
occurred during the earthquake of 1972 that killed 70,000 people. I
survivedin the "triangle of life" that existed next to my brother's
motorcycle. My friends who got under the bed and under desks were crushed
todeath [he gives more details, names, addresses etc.]... I am the living
example of the "triangle of life". My dead friends are the example of "duck
and cover".
TIPS DOUG COPP PROVIDES:
1) Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE is crushed
to death -- Every time, without exception. People who get under objects,
likedesks or cars, are always crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often 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
anobject, 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.
The reason is simple: the 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
signon 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 while you are watching television and you cannot
easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up
inthe fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Everybody who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed.
How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or
backwardyou 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
fromthe 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. They are
horriblymutilated.
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 screaming, 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. This is exactly what happened
withthe 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. 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.
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