You’re enjoying a nice sunny stroll when suddenly,
the ground starts shaking and your surroundings start tumbling.
What do you do?
Because we’re here to teach you the dos and don’ts of earthquake survival, because as it happens,
there’s actually quite a lot of bad advice and misinformation surrounding this very topic.
I’m Stu, this is Debunked, and we’re here to sort the truths from the myths,
and the facts from the misconceptions.
First of all… what exactly is an earthquake?
Well, technically-speaking, earthquakes are seismic activity caused by a sudden
release of energy in the Earth's rocky, outermost layer, known as the ‘lithosphere’,
although the term ‘earthquake’ may often be used
more generally to refer to any and all shaking of the ground.
Although earthquakes can be triggered by a range of things, such as volcanic activity,
meteor impacts, or even human exploits like mining operations or nuclear blasts,
the majority are caused by tectonic activity.
To understand this, we need to understand the structure of the planet itself.
The Earth is made up of a number of layers ranging from the inner core at the planet’s center,
through the outer core and mantle, all the way up to the Earth’s surface
known as the crust. These layers are not uniformly solid, and over sufficiently long
timescales much of the planet’s inner material moves like a viscous fluid.
It is this movement that causes the planet’s major tectonic plates to push against each other,
creating friction at their boundaries known as ‘fault lines’, which locks them in place. This
causes the build-up of elastic strain between the plates, which increases over time. Eventually,
the friction can no longer overcome this strain, at which point all the stored energy is released
at once. This sudden burst of built-up energy moves through the planet in the form of seismic
waves, which is what causes the shaking of the ground that we call an earthquake.
Estimates of the number of earthquakes that occur
annually range from hundreds of thousands to several million.
The vast majority of these are minor and many cannot be felt at all;
particularly powerful earthquakes, however, cause extremely strong shaking of the ground,
and can displace and break up huge quantities of earth.
Globally, approximately 90% of the world’s earthquakes occur along the
so-called ‘Circum-Pacific Belt’, which is known more commonly as the ‘Ring of Fire’.
This huge area of the planet stretches around the coastal regions at the edges
of the Pacific Ocean, and includes some of the most quake-prone places on Earth,
such as South East Asia, Japan, the west coast of the United States, and Chile.
It’s worth noting that it isn’t usually the shaking of the ground itself that is dangerous
to humans. If a person happens to find themselves in a wide open space when an earthquake strikes,
it’s easy enough to avoid injury by simply sitting on the ground and waiting it out.
What makes earthquakes dangerous is how quickly and completely they can destroy
human infrastructure, such as walls, buildings, and bridges. Being on, inside or around large
structures when they collapse can easily injure or kill scores of people in a matter of seconds,
which is why earthquakes that occur in or close to large cities can be so utterly devastating.
Earthquakes can also trigger other natural hazards such as landslides,
avalanches, and tsunamis, which only add to the destruction.
So, what exactly should you do if you are unlucky enough to experience a major earthquake? Well,
for starters, it’s always good to remember that being prepared is the best policy.
If you live in a part of the world that is prone to earthquakes,
or you are planning on spending a significant amount of time in such a place, formulating a
plan-of-action ahead of time may be the key to your survival in case the worst happens.
First of all, get to know your surroundings,
figure out the safest places to take cover in your home or place of work,
learn how to turn off your electricity, gas and water supplies,
and also identify evacuation routes and an agreed-upon meeting point.
You could also make your home safer during an earthquake by securing large pieces of
furniture to the wall, making sure any large, heavy objects are placed on lower shelves,
and ensuring your chimney or roof are in good condition by replacing loose bricks or tiles.
Next, put together an emergency kit that includes things like first-aid supplies,
a flashlight, phone chargers, batteries,
water and non-perishable food rations, as well as identification documents.
Take extra care to include the appropriate
supplies if someone in your family is sick or pregnant.
And if you really want to be extra-prepared, it is also worth
participating in earthquake simulations if any are being held in your local area.
Now that you’re as prepared as you can be,
stick with us as we’re about to run you through everything you’ll need to do
depending on the scenario you find yourself in when an earthquake actually happens!
We touched on the human impact with natural disasters earlier, and off the back of that I
wanted to introduce you to our partner Wren, and reintroduce you to chlorofluorocarbon.
Now you might think that CFCs are old news,
given that these man-made ozone destroying gasses were banned back in the 1980s.
But, the problem is no mandate followed this to prevent the continued use of
the already produced and imported materials,
meaning that aging storage and use of CFCs has continued to
produce emissions in lower income countries.
Pound for pound, CFCs produce 10,000 times as much warming to our atmosphere than CO2,
and the amount of CFCs that are currently stored is estimated to
be the equivalent of 9 billion metric tons of CO2.
So why am I talking about all this,
well we’ve partnered with Wren, who offer a carbon removing, offsetting
and conservation-all in one subscription to help us offset our carbon footprint,
and one of Wren’s project partners has been safely
eradicating our planet of the remaining CFC gasses.
In 2022, they managed to collect, destroy and remove CFC with a 99.997% efficiency rating!
What makes Wren’s carbon offsetting different is that it’s not only about planting a lot of trees,
although they do plant a hell of a lot of trees and they’ll even plant
an extra 10 if you’re among the first 100 to sign up via my link in the description!
But the big difference is how Wren selects its projects. The
refrigerant destruction project is just one example of their projects,
and has been found to be one of the most impactful and lowest-cost carbon offset projects available.
As well as riding the planet of humankind's past mistakes,
you can use Wren’s easy to use tool to calculate your own carbon footprint,
which you can then offset by funding a diverse mix of carbon reduction projects.
Once you’ve signed up via my link you can see month by month how your contribution is making
a difference, what projects it is funding and how every ton of carbon is being offset.
So you and your home are now fully prep’d,
it’s time to learn what to do when an earthquake actually strikes.
The best course of action depends somewhat on your circumstances in the moment,
so let’s run through a few different scenarios.
If you’re outside in an open space, sitting down and waiting it out is often all you
need to do. While the largest earthquakes can cause the ground to shake for several minutes,
fortunately these are very rare; the vast majority of earthquakes generally
only last between 10 and 30 seconds, so sit down, hold on, and stay calm.
If you’re outside but near any large structures,
as well as things like utility poles, overhead cables, or trees, it’s best to
move as far away from these as quickly as you can before planting yourself on the ground.
Falling objects and debris are one of the most common causes of injury during an earthquake,
so if you can’t fully distance yourself from nearby structures,
keep an eye out for anything high up that looks like it might tumble down on top of you.
If you happen to have anything to hand that you can shield yourself with,
hold it above you to protect your head and neck.
While you wait for the shaking to stop, stay outside and do not enter any buildings.
If you are in a moving vehicle during an earthquake, stop as soon as you can in a
safe location. Again, this means somewhere away from things like buildings, streetlights, trees,
and certainly do not park underneath any bridges or overhead roads,
for reasons that should be fairly obvious.
Stay inside and apply the handbrake. A car may jiggle pretty vigorously during an earthquake,
but this is actually a pretty good place to be in
such a situation. Turn on the radio and listen out for any emergency broadcasts,
and when it is safe to drive again, watch out for any hazards created by
the earthquake that may not have been there only seconds before.
This includes large cracks or trenches in the road, sinkholes, displaced earth, fallen
traffic lights, utility poles, or lampposts, trees, and collapsed buildings or bridges.
By the way, if you are near a beach or shoreline when an earthquake occurs, it is important that
you quickly move away from the water as soon as the initial shaking has stopped.
Earthquakes that strike close to or in the ocean can trigger tsunamis,
which can cause extreme amounts of damage and kill survivors of the initial quake.
As soon as the shaking stops, immediately try to move at least 3 kilometers inland
or 30 meters above sea level in order to avoid potentially deadly tsunami waves.
Though it is not present in every case, a classic sign of an approaching tsunami
is a sudden and unexpected recession of the sea that cannot be explained by low
tides. You may also hear a loud rumble or roaring noise emanating from the ocean,
similar to that of a train or jet aircraft, which often precedes a large wave.
If you notice any of these signs, whether you felt an earthquake beforehand or not… run.
If you’re inside when an earthquake hits, take the following actions to
give yourself the best chance of avoiding injury.
First of all, stay where you are.
As much as you may want to immediately sprint for the exit, experts generally advise against
running outside or into different rooms, as the area around exterior walls and doorways are
often the most dangerous parts of a building during the actual shaking of an earthquake.
This is because the risk of falling objects and shattering windows is highest in these places;
you really don’t want to be in range of any plummeting masonry or flying shards of glass.
Not only that, if you’re in a crowded building when an earthquake begins and everyone makes
for the exit, it could create a human crush or blockage at pretty much the worst possible time.
Additionally, if you’re on the upper floors of a high-rise building when a quake occurs,
absolutely do not use the elevators under any circumstances. Though not every building
will collapse during an earthquake, they may still end up considerably deformed and warped,
and you really don’t want to be stuck inside an misshapen elevator shaft if
you could have just waited the shaking out and used the stairs.
With all that in mind, as soon as the shaking begins, quickly move away from any large pieces
of furniture, shelves, or light fixtures that could fall, particularly those that are especially
heavy or made of glass. If you can, take cover underneath a sturdy table, desk or bed. Hold onto
your cover and be prepared to move with it to stay under its protection throughout the quake.
If there is no cover available, move as close as you can to an interior wall with
no windows and crouch down onto your knees with your hands covering your head and neck.
Again, if there’s anything like a book or a tray within reach,
you can use that to shield yourself from falling objects or glass.
If you are in a wheelchair and cannot get onto the ground, lock your wheels
and cover your head and neck. Additionally, if an earthquake strikes at night while you’re in bed,
it’s best to hold on and stay where you are, protecting your head with a pillow.
On the topic of taking cover, we really need to take a look at some
of the frequently-suggested earthquake survival advice that are actually good
examples of the sort of misinformation we here at Debunked love to… well, debunk,
and while you're here with us, like, subscribe
and turn on your notifications for our next Debunked Episode.
Like this guy, you may have heard that one of the best places to be
during an earthquake is in a doorway, and in fact this is indeed where quite a lot of
people stand and steady themselves when everything starts to shake.
Don’t do this! This is a common
misconception about earthquake safety that actually puts you at greater risk.
It is believed that this nugget of bad advice
originated with the Spanish missions in the Americas.
At this time, the walls of many buildings were built from adobe,
which is literally just earth and other biological matter.
When earthquakes struck in this era, often the wooden door frames
were the most likely part of these structures to be left standing,
which has been propagated through the years as a belief that doorways are the strongest
part of a building. While this may have been the case back in 19th century California,
modern building practices (i.e. not building everything out of dirt and
straw) mean that these days doorways are no stronger than any other part of a building,
and in fact may even constitute a weak-point.
Not only that, standing in a doorway rather than heading for cover leaves you exposed on both
sides to all the aforementioned falling debris and shattering glass. Not good.
Another piece of earthquake misinformation you may have heard goes by the rather grandiose
name of “The Triangle of Life”, which was conceived by a fellow called Doug
Copp. Having entered public awareness through a series of viral emails (never a good sign),
the Triangle of Life asserts that during an earthquake,
people should position themselves next to large, bulky pieces of furniture or cars,
rather than taking cover under things like tables and desks.
This is because when buildings fully collapse on top of the objects and furniture inside,
they compress them to a certain extent,
but leave a small, often triangular void at its side.
The theory claims that a person is more likely to survive if they
position themselves to end up in this void, rather than taking cover
under tables that would be completely crushed under the weight of a building.
While there is a modicum of validity to this idea,
it is based on a rather narrow set of circumstances and assumptions
that do not reflect the reality of what actually happens in most earthquakes.
First of all, this advice only really pertains to people unlucky enough to be
trapped following a complete, “pancake-style” collapse of the building they were in.
This is actually quite rare outside of only the least-developed parts of
the world where buildings are often very old and structurally unsound.
In the case of most earthquakes, the vast majority of buildings do not fully collapse, and when they
don’t, falling objects and breaking glass are much more likely to cause injury and death.
Opting for the Triangle of Life tactic in these
circumstances is ineffective, and puts you at greater risk, not less.
It’s also not always possible to tell exactly where these
life-saving triangular voids will be in the event of a total structural collapse.
As you can imagine, disintegrating buildings are pretty unpredictable, and in reality it’s
almost impossible to know exactly where such a space will materialize, if it does at all.
The “Triangle of Life” approach also doesn’t consider the possibility of
being crushed between heavy objects as a result of side-to-side movement.
For these reasons, Copp’s “Triangle of Life” strategy has been roundly criticized and
rejected by a number of organizations, such as the American Red Cross, the Southern California
Earthquake Centre, and the Structural Engineers Association of California, to name but a few.
As a result, we here at Debunked advise you to take the “Drop,
Cover, and Hold On For Dear Life” approach to indoor earthquake survival.
Unfortunately, even if you do everything right, it’s entirely possible you may still end up
trapped underneath debris and rubble. Obviously this is a frightening and stressful experience,
but if you do find yourself trapped, try to stay calm and not panic.
One of the most effective ways to let rescuers know that there
are survivors who need help is to tap on hard, resonant materials,
such as metal poles. Rescue teams will often have moments of silence to listen
for faint noises underneath the rubble, and people are sometimes saved by this method.
If you manage to survive an earthquake relatively unscathed,
there are still things you can do to help yourself and others after the shaking has stopped. First,
check yourself for any injuries that you may not have immediately noticed in the initial chaos,
particularly cuts caused by broken glass.
When the quake has fully subsided, it is now much safer to move around and exit a
building. Listen out for any emergency broadcasts for up-to-date information,
and consult with any emergency services present on what to do next, particularly
if you notice any structural damage to your home and consider it to be unsafe.
Also, be prepared for aftershocks caused by the initial quake;
though these smaller earthquakes are often less intense and steadily decrease in
magnitude and frequency over time, they can still sometimes be sufficiently powerful to
cause further destruction and injury, especially during rescue operations.
Now you know how best to protect yourself in the case of a powerful earthquake. While
we hope that you never actually have to use this information, it’s always better
to have the knowledge and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Stay safe folks!