Script/Outline: How to Survive an Earthquake

1. Why you should be prepared for an earthquake
2. How you can prepare before an earthquake ever comes
3. Most common things we’ve been taught to do in the past regarding Earthquake safety: Duck and Cover
4. Duck and Cover doesn’t work
5. Triangle of Life does work
6. What is the Triangle of Life? What happens when a building collapses – the weight of the ceilings falling on objects or furniture inside crushes these objects LEAVING A SPACE or VOID next to them.
7. Hiding under a desk or table – WRONG
8. Lying down NEXT to their desks in the aisles
9. Hiding UNDER something is deadly
10. Will this help anyone – large or small, big or little?
11. What about compacting Objects: the less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probablility that the person using this void for safety will not be injured.
12. The next time you watch collapsed buildings on TV, count the Triangles you see formed. They are everywhere.
13. Triangle is the MOST common shape in a collapsed building.
14. People who simply DUCK AND COVER when buildings collapse are crushed to death.
15. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
16. 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.
17. You can survive in a smaller void. Get NEXT to an object, NEXT to a sofa, NEXT to a large bulky oject that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
18. 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.
19. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created.
20. Wood buildings have less concentr4ated crushing wieght.
21. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will casue many injuries but less squashed bodyies.
22. Concrete slabs are the worst.
23. 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.
24. Hotels could save more people by posting this info on the back of the door.
25. If you can’t get out of a door or window, lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa or large chair.
26. What about doorways? Stay away from them
27. What about stairs? Stay away from them.
28. Is closer to the Interior of a building better or worse than the outer walls of a building.
29. Escape routes are MORE blocked the further into the interior of a building
30. Try to get closer to the outer edge of the building if you can’t get outside.
31. What about hiding in a vehicle
32. Sit or lie next to your vehicle.
33. Surprising things that don’t compact – while crawling inside of a collapsed newspaper office and other offices with a lot of paper, PAPER does not compact! Large voids are found surround stacks of paper.