upstairs vs downstairs? Either is safe. Find a quake-safe place where you are and avoid running during the shaking. Myth Buster!
Hence, staying in top floor of a high-rise building is practically safer than to be in the open street among the stampede of fear-stricken people. Tall buildings offer maximum security from an earthquake jolt if the areas do not fall in the epicenter of extremely powerful earthquake.
Prediction, protection and preparation.
5 things to avoid if an earthquake strikes
PEDS is characterized by dizziness, vertigo, imbalance, nausea, and a sensation of persistent motion, and is often triggered shortly after experiencing an earthquake. The symptoms can persist for varying durations.
These include:
In most situations, you can protect yourself if you immediately: DROP down onto your hands and knees before the earthquake knocks you down. This position protects you from falling but allows you to still move if necessary. COVER your head and neck (and your entire body if possible) underneath a sturdy table or desk.
The greatest danger is from falling and flying objects: Studies of injuries and deaths caused by earthquakes over the last several decades show that you are much more likely to be injured by falling or flying objects (TVs, lamps, glass, bookcases, etc.) than to die in a collapsed building.
If an earthquake happens, protect yourself right away. If you are inside, stay and do not run outside; avoid doorways. If you are in bed, turn face down and cover your head and neck with a pillow. If you are in a car, pull over and stop.
Earthquakes may last seconds to minutes. While the shaking of small earthquakes typically lasts only a few seconds, strong shaking during large earthquakes, such as a megathrust Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, can last several minutes.
Because of these advantages, the moment magnitude scale has largely replaced the Richter scale for most seismological applications, especially for earthquakes that are recorded at long distances from the epicenter or that are very large.
No fault long enough to generate a magnitude 10 earthquake is known to exist, and if it did, it would extend around most of the planet. The largest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5 on May 22, 1960 in Chile on a fault that is almost 1,000 miles long… a “megaquake” in its own right.
The bathtub or “triangle of life” spaces beside furniture aren't the safest places either – the danger inside is mainly from falling objects. Hiding under the bed or a strong table is a better idea, it provides protection from those falling objects. If you're in bed, stay there and cover your head with a pillow.
The Ritz-Carlton/JW Marriott hotel building, a part of the LA Live development in Los Angeles, California, is the first building in Los Angeles that uses an advanced steel plate shear wall system to resist the lateral loads of strong earthquakes and winds.
Irregular buildings and buildings with soft stories have a high chance of collapse in the event of an earthquake. For example, a building with very short columns will have more loads exerted on it and the load distribution will be very complicated, therefore leading to the building's failure.
What should I NOT do during an earthquake?
#1. MAGNITUDE 9.5 (1960). Biobío, Chile - Commonly referred to as the Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean earthquake, the largest earthquake ever killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless.
Rats, weasels, snakes, and centipedes reportedly left their homes and headed for safety several days before a destructive earthquake. Anecdotal evidence abounds of animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects exhibiting strange behavior anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake.
People with mental disorders (odds ratio (OR) = 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1, 3.5), people with moderate physical disabilities (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2, 2.3), and people who had been hospitalized just prior to the earthquake (OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.7) were the most vulnerable.
If there is no shelter nearby, only then should you get down near an interior wall (or next to low-lying furniture that won't fall on you), and cover your head and neck with your arms and hands. HOLD ON to your shelter (or to your head and neck) until the shaking stops.
To increase your likelihood of surviving any size earthquake, Drop, Cover and Hold under a desk or table within the first 3—4 seconds of shaking. Stay there until the shaking stops. “Beneath, Beside, Between”! Getting BENEATH any desk or table is always your best option.
Near the epicenter, earthquakes with a magnitude of just 2.5 or greater can be felt. Only rarely do we receive earthquake announcements for events with a magnitude of slightly less than 2. Earthquakes are felt widespread at magnitudes of 3 or greater.