Earthquake experts debate safety protocol
Traditional 'duck, cover and hold' method better for U.S., not others
By: Erica Horton
Issue date: 3/2/10 Section: News
Few, if any, Memphians have had the chance to use the techniques learned in earthquake safety drills from elementary days, though most have been taught or are aware that the city is along the New Madrid Fault.
Despite a plethora of earthquake safety lessons, opposing schools of thought are offering new advice on what people should do if an earthquake should hit the MidSouth area.
Earthquakes last month in the Caribbean country of Haiti, magnitude 7.0, and Saturday in the South American country of Chile, magnitude 8.8, have given rise to frequent and often incorrect e-mail forwards aimed at disaster preparedness.
In one such e-mail, a member of the non-profit disaster company American Rescue Team International, Doug Copp, challenges one of the most common protection procedures - duck, cover and hold - in lieu of a procedure he devised himself, the "Triangle of Life." The method suggests victims find a survivable void or space next to a large, bulky object.
The more commonly known emergency course of action of duck, cover and hold is promoted by the American Red Cross and earthquake centers in California. The Center of Earthquake Research and Information at The University of Memphis has links on its site leading to sources that discuss the procedure.
Duck, cover and hold suggests that victims do not leave the building but instead find a sturdy structure to hide under as an earthquake occurs.
Copp, who claims to have been in 875 collapsed buildings in countries around the world, said the duck, cover and hold procedure has a 100 percent death rate.
He came up with the Triangle of Life idea in 1985, five seconds after his first experience witnessing the effects of an earthquake at a collapsed school in Mexico City after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit, killing thousands of people.
Walking from room to room, Copp saw the remains of children who had sought shelter under their desks. The desks' legs snapped under the pressure of the quake, causing the ceiling to crash down and crush them.
Despite a plethora of earthquake safety lessons, opposing schools of thought are offering new advice on what people should do if an earthquake should hit the MidSouth area.
Earthquakes last month in the Caribbean country of Haiti, magnitude 7.0, and Saturday in the South American country of Chile, magnitude 8.8, have given rise to frequent and often incorrect e-mail forwards aimed at disaster preparedness.
In one such e-mail, a member of the non-profit disaster company American Rescue Team International, Doug Copp, challenges one of the most common protection procedures - duck, cover and hold - in lieu of a procedure he devised himself, the "Triangle of Life." The method suggests victims find a survivable void or space next to a large, bulky object.
The more commonly known emergency course of action of duck, cover and hold is promoted by the American Red Cross and earthquake centers in California. The Center of Earthquake Research and Information at The University of Memphis has links on its site leading to sources that discuss the procedure.
Duck, cover and hold suggests that victims do not leave the building but instead find a sturdy structure to hide under as an earthquake occurs.
Copp, who claims to have been in 875 collapsed buildings in countries around the world, said the duck, cover and hold procedure has a 100 percent death rate.
He came up with the Triangle of Life idea in 1985, five seconds after his first experience witnessing the effects of an earthquake at a collapsed school in Mexico City after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit, killing thousands of people.
Walking from room to room, Copp saw the remains of children who had sought shelter under their desks. The desks' legs snapped under the pressure of the quake, causing the ceiling to crash down and crush them.