HIS article by
Doug Copp, rescue chief and disaster manager of the American Rescue
International, is again going the rounds of the Internet following the
earthquake in China that has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.
Copp says "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."
When an earthquake strikes, remember these tips from Copp:
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 door jamb falls
forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jamb
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
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 three 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 and save someone’s life... The entire world is experiencing
natural calamities so be prepared!