edu4DRR

Effective Education for Disaster Risk Reduction - Learning Matters.

In never rains in sunny California, but when an earthquake happens adults still do the wrong thing

Last week I posted a video on this site from Governor Schwarznegger that talked about the earthquake that occurred in the town of Eureka, California in which he talked about adults doing the wrong thing by running outside, while children did the right thing by ducking under heavy furniture and hiding on until the shaking stopped. In this day of instant news and eye-witness report, the following eye-witness piece on CNN iReport website appeared:

I was on my lunch break when it hit. I was talking to a few friends who worked in mall (Bayshore Mall), felt a tiny tremor and then all of a sudden the lights were flickering and the building started shaking. All I remember hearing was a long loud rumbling noise and everything falling off the shelves and yelling (not screaming in terror yet kind of yelling.)

The floor was like water (knowing that it was solid concrete beneath me.) and the walls and the windows were moving like jello and everything around us was shaking and literally moving up and down with the feeling of empty space from where my hand originally was on the counter.

All I could think about after the moment that seemed like 30 seconds.. was I needed to get back to my store and help my coworkers and of course my roomie at home with my laptop,

I had to walk outside even though I wanted to run, noticed alot of shards of glass and store merchandise on the ground from other stores in the mall.

The moment I got outside though, hightailed it back to the enterance of my store.

I noticed and glanced around while running, that nearly all of the people either were crying or scared or both (natural human instincts of course) and some others were in shock and yet helping others out.

I got to my store, helped ushering the customers out, we had a lost little boy and I stayed with him until his mom showed up.

Next thing I knew, the staff and I did a quick search of everything in the store to make sure that no customers was in there and we got ourselves out. Did a head count and just waited until the mall traffic was gone.

Of course while we were all waiting, did a round of hugs and making sure we were all OKAY, called up our General Mgr and the everyone else who was suppose to come in, called our loved ones and dear friends to make sure everything is okay.

The traffic going out from the mall was backed up and horrible.

I know an earthquake isnt like a block party but you know I ended up taking pictures anyway of it.. and its my first ever huge earthquake and I survived it.

Can you spot what she did wrong? How many things did she do wrong? I would like to know what you think and why. More importantly, how can we change this behaviour? There have now been two Shake-out drills in Southern California, but is the message still not getting through to everyone across the state? How can we achieve this through education (both formal and informal) is an important question and one in which I invite you to help answer!

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Comment by Justin Sharpe on March 4, 2010 at 15:18: Actually you should DROP to the floor, get under a table or desk to COVER yourself and HOLD-On to the table or desk! If people run outside their is a danger that masonry or pieces of building and glass could fall and seriously injure those trying to leave. There is also a danger from falling power lines! You should wait until after the shaking has stopped and then go outside to your evacuation area! There is simple, clear advice on my website: http://www.edu4hazards.org/earthquake.html which is also available in the Chinese language. I hope this helps and I am relieved to hear that you are alright! Please say hello to everyone that I met last year when visiting the University! I miss Sun Moon lake!

Kind Regards,

Justin

Comment by CHEN,Li-ru on March 4, 2010 at 15:01: today am8:18 in Taiwan ,there was a earthquake happened ! although we(teachers and students) has a practice in last semester , i think we also some problem.
Q1:Should puipls running outside immediate which the class is in fisrt floor ? it is said that the ground floor better running outside while the class 2.3.4floor better ducking near heavy furniture and hiding on until the shaking stopped?

Comment by emmerando martin p. cruz on February 24, 2010 at 12:40: she did wrong of not protecting herself first before helping others,such as improvised head gear etc., her instinct of helping a distant place than of a near ones. she still proceeded to her instinct although as to her statement that there are debris and broken glasses. she should had use most of her time helping others than of taking pictures.

Comment by Yolanda (Yoli) McGlinchey on February 17, 2010 at 0:57: Flight or fight? Her first reactions should have been to duck, cover and hold on; but flight was in her mind. It is interesting to me that there was no thought to aftershocks. Being from California and having been in earthquakes since 1964; I've seen first hand people who do not stop and think before they react. I also agree with our friend from Indonesia, in that we need to think about how we protect ourselves so we do not add to the victim count. In Santa Barbara we have been preaching, along with others, the importance of disaster preparedness, mitigation, planning and training. We have even used our Community Emergency Response Team training to get the word out. However, in the end only 10% of all the participants actually stop and think before they react.

I also believe that it is the children that send the best message to their parents. If not hound them to create disaster plans. We work mainly with third graders in getting them to understand how important it is to have disaster plans and kits.

Preparedness is an on-going issue and will remain on-going as long as people are involved. You can try catchy phrases or even public service announcements, but it seems like the work of an educator is one that is continous.

We will continue to preach, teach and try to engrain within the hearts and minds of our citizens that they will be on their own in any large scale disaster.

There is no calvary and they need to be watchful and observant. Our November PSA's this year will be, "Stop, Think, Look and Act". You can view our Disaster Preparedness Calendar and newsletters at www.santabarbaraca.gov/oes and take what you need. We have a theme for each month that goes out to all residents and city employees; including the children.

Be safe,
Yoli

Comment by Justin Sharpe on February 16, 2010 at 9:09: This is something I have also argued and have seen argued by other academics too and holds some promise. However, this extract from the CNN site and the anecdotal evidence from the California earthquake seem to fly in the face of this. What is important, I think, is that education is both formal and informal and comes from a variety of trusted sources and is ongoing. Any ongoing campaign for DRRE needs to be 'catchy' or memorable with simple actions to be taken before, during and after an event! I like this picture that I took in Membury Service Station on the M4 reminding drivers to have an emergency kit in the car, but still no such campaign for households regarding flooding etc, despite the 2007 UK floods costing £3bn and the recent floods in Cockermouth, UK costing £100m in 2009. I would like to know how many UK residents (or wherever there is a flood risk) living on the floodplain have back-flow protectors for toilets or air-brick protectors for houses, with a combined cost of £200 (as much as you might spend on a games console or on dinner and theatre in the West End of London). I suspect that this is low. It would also be interesting to find out what, if any protective measures, have been taken by householders and individuals affected by the 2007 floods, especially on the newer builds in the city of Hull. Any answers on this would be appreciated...

Comment by Paul Aitken on February 14, 2010 at 20:14: A useful education strategy is empowering children as agents of change. This means building young peoples skills and knowledge and empowring them to take leadership roles in their families and communities to prepare for and respond to disasters. The students’ increased awareness and understanding of the risks prompts their parents and families to be better prepared. Children become a community resource through acting as:
• advocates for change, by raising awareness in the community
• agents of change, by undertaking activities in the community.

Comment by Prasetio Wijaksono on February 12, 2010 at 11:18: Well...this is my opinion:
1. She did wrong when she did not know earthquake's symptoms
- wall shaking, Flickering lamp and many else.
2. She did not know what to do when earthquake happened.
- she did nothing I think, beside watching surround her, everything falling off the shelves. She did not do hide under the table, etc.
3. Don't go inside the building until the quake is over
4. This is Important, she did wrong when in the middle of earthquake, inside her mind was thinking to help others but she doesn't think to save her life first before save others.
- if she wants to help others she must makes sure herself in good condition in order to avoid more people become victim.

note: the author wrote "A long loud rumbling noise". Is it a sign of early warning system, if yes so she did not understand the evacuation procedures.

maybe others could also share their opinion.
warm regards from Indonesia
Prasetio