Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

...Hawai'i apparently also has some fairly significant earthquake activity. WA residents are taught from school age on what to do if they are caught in an earthquake. Are the citizens of Hawai'i also becoming more educated on what they need to do to protect themselves and their property?

Residents are repeatedly told to get 72 hour emergency kits. What is unique about an earthquake threat? Building collapse. But what is that risk here? What is the risk of a large quake? We may be seismically active, but that can mean you're less likely to have a big one.

[newroots]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

guam has alotta earth quakes... big ones 2 ... i remember when i was like 7

there was this 7.5 earthquake , and it felt like Giants were playing see-saw with the earth.

and there was another one ... 8.5 but i was sleeping and didnt experience that one.. people say it was really scary though

[Konaguy]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

Hey Konaguy. Hope all is well over there. Or getting better at least.

Well things are returning to normal here. Although my dad still hasn't fixed the crack in the drywall in our ceiling, or had our sink replaced, or my window fixed. But considering the worse damage suffered by others, we are really lucky.

[lavagal]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

I could probably go back and edit my post to say October 15, 2006, but who knows, maybe we're destined to repeat, repeat, repeat, until we get it right.

I'm intrigued by Miulang's and Aunty Lynn's posts. I will definitely go over them more thoroughly!

Hey Konaguy. Hope all is well over there. Or getting better at least.

[Konaguy]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

And yet if there's a quake and the power is out for 12-18 hours, as was the case October 15, 2007, the big crybabies here on Oahu were magnified much more than those true victims on the Big Island, many of whom probably have resumed life in homes that should be condemned or drastically repaired.

That was by far one of the most annoying aspect of that day, the Oahu-centric
coverage. There was more things about the power outage on Oahu than the real damage that occurred on the Big Island.

[1stwahine]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

Here's something I shared on Wala'au.

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 60 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.
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 of life" 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
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
space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life".
The larger the object, the stronger, and 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. They are everywhere.


TEN TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
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 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.

Cool 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 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. Spread the word to everyone
YOU care about and save someone's life!"

Auntie Lynn

[Miulang]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

It's not just emergency supplies, but also what you, as an individual, should do when an earthquake hits. Here is a starting point for you.

Miulang

[1stwahine]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

Exactly wat Lavagal said above.

We not ready foa NUTTIN!

Shame.

Auntie Lynn

[lavagal]

Re: Hawai'i and severe earthquakes

I don't think we do. Every time it rains, traffic is at a standstill. When the power goes out, everyone freaks out. When the ambulance needs to race by on the freeway, a bunch of idiots dive in behind it to ride in its draft. Probably the only thing we do right is stock up on toilet paper, bottled water and canned meats. We reelect deadwood. We pull up to the pump even as gas prices soar. If there were any state in the union where it should be easy to handle life off the grid for a couple of weeks, it's Hawaii. And yet if there's a quake and the power is out for 12-18 hours, as was the case October 15, 2007, the big crybabies here on Oahu were magnified much more than those true victims on the Big Island, many of whom probably have resumed life in homes that should be condemned or drastically repaired.

We have hurricane clips on our house. That, the toilet paper, bottled water, and pull-top tomato soup cans, have got us about ready for anything. Thank goodness Costco sells batteries by the stick.

[Miulang]

Two scientists at the University of Nevada created a list of the 10 states that have the greatest magnitude earthquakes every year, and Hawai'i is #5, with an average magnitude of 5.0. WA is right behind at 4.97.

WA will probably suffer a more cataclysmic earthquake sometime in the very near future, but Hawai'i apparently also has some fairly significant earthquake activity. WA residents are taught from school age on what to do if they are caught in an earthquake. Are the citizens of Hawai'i also becoming more educated on what they need to do to protect themselves and their property?

Miulang