How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill ?

Why do we need to Conduct an Earthquake Drill ?

The Great Hanshin Earthquake KOBE, JAPAN Date : 17 January 1995 Time : 5:46 am (Jap. Time) Magnitude : 6.9 Depth : 22 kms Casualties : 5,502 Injured : 36,896 ~200,000 buildings are damaged or destroyed. ~300,000 people were evacuated to temporary shelters Source: USGS

The Date : 11 Marc h 2011 Time : 2:46 pm (Jap. Time) Magnitude : 9.0 MIYAKO TOHOKU IWATE PREFECTURE Date : 11 Marc h 2011 Time : 2:46 pm (Jap. Time) Magnitude : 9.0 Depth : 32 kms Casualties : 15,870 Injured : 6,114 ~130,000 buildings are damaged or destroyed. ~4.4 million households were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water Source: USGS

The Date : 08 November 2012 Time : 10:35 am (Guatemala Time) San Marcos, Guatemala Date : 08 November 2012 Time : 10:35 am (Guatemala Time) Magnitude : 7.4 Casualties : 42 Injured : 150 ~12,000 buildings are damaged or destroyed. ~30,000 evacuated and 8,000 stayed in the evacuation center Source: USGS

Why do we need to Conduct an Earthquake Drill Why do we need to Conduct an Earthquake Drill ? Earthquake is a natural phenomenon and cannot be prevented. It can strike quickly without warning. Earthquake can damage lives and properties. No available technology that give an accurate earthquake prediction. TO MITIGATE EARTHQUAKE DISASTER.

EARTHQUAKE FIRE F I R E vs. EARTHQUAKE Concentrated in one area of the building. Immediate response is to evacuate people and put out fire. Immediate outside help will arrive definitely at the soonest time. Building occupants can be evacuated in any place outside the building away from fire. No aftershock to deal with. Affects the whole building and nearby areas. Immediate response is to Duck, Cover and Hold during an earthquake, and to evacuate if necessary. Immediate outside help is not a guarantee. Area for evacuation after the event is limited only to an open area which is safe from falling debris and other earthquake related hazard. Aftershocks will be another concern.

How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill

OBJECTIVES To ensure the safety of everybody during and after a damaging earthquake. To help the building administrators and their disaster action groups to design a specific response plan for earthquakes. To train the building occupants on proper action and response during earthquakes. To test various elements of the response plan designed by the Disaster Management Committee (DMC).

Stages in Conducting Earthquake Drill Planning/ Organizing Stage 2 Developing an Evacuation Plan Stage 3 Orientation prior to Earthquake drill Stage 4 Actual Conduct of Earthquake Drill

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill Form a Disaster Management Committee (DMC) composed of several teams with specific task and designate an over-all coordinator. Overall Coordinator Fire Safety Team First Aid or Medical Team Evacuation Team Communication Team Site Security Team

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill Members of the Disaster Management Committee (DMC) should evaluate the building. Have the following information available yearly: Total number of building occupants Total number of occupants at each room Total number of occupants at each floor Total number of occupants at each building Identify occupants with special needs (sick, old, disabled) and their location

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill Members of the Disaster Management Committee (DMC) should evaluate the building. Acquire the most recent grounds layout or vicinity plan/map.

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill Members of the DMC should conduct building watching exercise and identify safe and unsafe spots inside the building. This is necessary for stressing the do’s and dont’s. Observe hazardous areas/practices within the building premises and dangerous conditions that may exist which people have not noticed before. This should be plotted on the layout. Examples: * Any hanging, unstable objects or structure * Condition of power lines and utility poles * Narrow alleys between buildings * Corridors are too narrow * Are there blockages along the corridors and exit points? * Do exit point remain open during working hours? * Doors that swing in instead of swing out.

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill Building Watching Exercise Shelf near Entrance Swing Out Door Decoration Narrow Exit Glass Window

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill Building Watching Exercise Electric Post and wirings Gate’s Shade Flower Pots

STAGE 1 Planning/Organizing an Earthquake Drill Members of the DMC should conduct building watching exercise and identify safe and unsafe spots inside the building. This is necessary for stressing the do’s and dont’s. Suggest corrections or improvements of current set-up. Examples: * clean up stuff that blocks the corridors and exit points. * exit points must remain unlocked during working hours. Assess the structural integrity of the building/s by a qualified civil/structural engineer. The engineer could be tapped from the local city/municipal engineer’s office

STAGE 2 Developing the Building Earthquake Evacuation Plan

STAGE 2 Developing the Building Earthquake Evacuation Plan The Building Earthquake Evacuation Plan should have provisions to utilize all available open spaces nearest the building that are evaluated as safe from falling debris and other materials that may cause injuries. Parking Area Park

STAGE 2 Developing the Building Earthquake Evacuation Plan Determine if there is sufficient open space for all. Areas to be occupied should be computed assuming 4 ‘evacuees’ would occupy a 1 sq m area. Determine how many persons can occupy an open space. Assumption 1 : 800 persons Assumption 2 : 4 persons/m2 (800 persons) ÷ (4 persons/m2) = 200 m2 Is the space enough for the total number of evacuees?

STAGE 2 Developing the Building Earthquake Evacuation Plan Consider the number of occupants in each building (working and non-working hours). Designate a specific open area for each building as their area of temporary refuge. Once each building has been assigned a specific evacuation site, come up with an evacuation procedure using the available map. Initially, all exit points nearest the building should be suggested as their exit routes; assuming that these are passable after the earthquake.

STAGE 2 Developing the Building Earthquake Evacuation Plan Determine the flow of traffic from each building along the street using the information on actual number of occupants per building and their designated evacuation area. Indicate by arrows, the flow of evacuation coming out of each room down to their designated evacuation site. This will be the suggested earthquake evacuation route for the building occupants. One way traffic: Determine the flow of traffic

STAGE 2 Developing the Building Earthquake Evacuation Plan Flow of Traffic and Evacuation Route Evacuation Site Use arrows to indicate the flow of evacuation One way traffic: persons shall walk in one direction

Prepare Earthquake Survival Kits First Aid Kits

STAGE 3 Orientation Prior to the Conduct of an Earthquake Drill

STAGE 3 Orientation Prior to the Conduct of an Earthquake Drill Prepare the building occupants a week before the scheduled earthquake drill. Identify safe spots (e.g. under tables, desks, doors, etc) and danger zones (e.g. windows and glass, shelves, machinery, cabinets and furniture that may topple or slide as well as all hanging and heavy objects). When dangerous areas have been identified, ask the building occupants/administrators to correct these and to take action. Introduce the suggested evacuation route prepared by the DMC. Also introduce the assigned open area where they should evacuate after an earthquake. Assign somebody who will be in charge of making sure that all exit points are open during the shaking.

STAGE 3 Orientation Prior to the Conduct of an Earthquake Drill The main concern during an ongoing shaking is how to protect oneself. Give specific instructions on what to do DURING an earthquake. Duck, Cover and Hold Take cover under a sturdy table or strongly supported doorway. Watch out for falling objects. Keep calm and don’t panic.

STAGE 3 Orientation Prior to the Conduct of an Earthquake Drill The main concern during an ongoing shaking is how to protect oneself. Give specific instructions about what to do AFTER as soon as the shaking stops: Be alert… Listen to the Marshall’s instructions. Walk out of the building in an orderly manner.

STAGE 3 Orientation Prior to the Conduct of an Earthquake Drill The main concern during an ongoing shaking is how to protect oneself. While walking along the alleys/streets, be alert and watch out for falling debris. DON’T Run DON’T Push DON’T Talk DON’T Return DON’T bring your things

STAGE 4 Actual Conduct of an Earthquake Drill

STAGE 4 Actual Conduct of an Earthquake Drill Prior to the scheduled drill, inform the neighborhood regarding the conduct of the drill.

STAGE 4 Actual Conduct of an Earthquake Drill Prior to the scheduled drill, inform the neighborhood regarding the conduct of the drill. Identify and assign observers for each exit points of the building and evacuation areas. They will give their comments and observations during the evaluation of the drill.

STAGE 4 Actual Conduct of an Earthquake Drill For the Actual Drill. Assumptions: 1-minute strong shaking signified by 1 minute siren/bell Person can not stand. Buildings may have been damaged but no collapse. Possible falling objects including glass windows No immediate assistance will be available for at least several hours. Self-help and sustenance are required. Possible injuries, fear, panic among building occupants.

STAGE 4 Actual Conduct of an Earthquake Drill For the Actual Drill. Give instructions/reiterate the what to do’s: once the siren is heard, do the proper and expected actions. Participants during this 1-minute siren should perform the duck, cover and hold After the 1-minute siren, participants quietly go out of the building/s and proceed to previously designated open space. Team leaders should make head count while in the ground. While the drill is ongoing, observers should take note on how the participants performed.

STAGE 4 Actual Conduct of an Earthquake Drill For the Actual Drill. Give instructions/reiterate the what to do’s: When all the participants have converged at the designated evacuation area, the assigned observers will give their comments (if drill was conducted properly, if the evacuation proceeded smoothly, etc.) and suggestions on how to correct and improve. To be effective earthquake drills must be done regularly.

EARTHQUAKE DRILL

Phase 1. ALARM siren / bell rings for 1 minute ongoing “ground shaking or earthquake”

Phase 2. RESPONSE perform “DUCK, COVER and HOLD” during the “shaking” Remain in that position until “shaking” stops Still BE ALERT, open your eyes Observers should take note of how teachers and students performed

Phase 3. EVACUATION after the “shaking” All building occupants evacuate, following pre-determined routes, to the EVACUATION AREAS

PHASES OF AN EARTHQUAKE DRILL Phase 1. Alarm A pre-arranged signal such as siren/bell should be known to all. During the drill, the siren/bell indicates earthquake/shaking. All building occupants will be alerted by this signal. Phase 2. Response While the siren/bell is ongoing, everyone should move away from windows, glass or light fixtures. In this phase,everyone should perform “duck, cover and hold” under sturdy tables or chairs. Remain in this position until the“shaking” stops. Phase 3. Evacuation Once the “shaking” stops, all occupants should evacuate the building and proceed using pre- determined routes to go to identified evacuation areas.

PHASES OF AN EARTHQUAKE DRILL Phase 4. Assembly At the designated evacuation area, the ‘evacuees’ must be grouped together. Phase 5. Head Count Team leaders should check and make sure all ‘evacuees’ are accounted for. Phase 6. Evaluation An evaluation of the drill must be conducted to identify problems encountered during the drill and how this can be corrected in future earthquake drills.

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