Please pray for L'Aquila

[dwest]

... BTW Giampaolo Giuliani predicted the likely hood of a major quake, how does one prepare for such an event when there is no definite timeline?

For individuals, stock a 3-day supply of food and water, a flashlight, a battery powered radio, a first aid kit. Have some cash money because electricity may be cut off, so ATMs and credit card machines may be out of order. Some travel with an emergency kit in their cars in case the roads become impassable and they are away from home.

Authorities can prepare by retrofitting the most critical buildings such as hospitals.

I understand the L'Aquila hospital was built to more modern standards. The problem with predicting these things is there is no way to follow a progression of seismic events that will lead to a specific major event at a specific time. In tropical storms people can be evacuated after indications are that the storm will hit a specific region in a given time frame. That technology does not exist for earthquakes, all the preparations in the world will not save you if your home falls on your head.

[BillChin]

I understand the L'Aquila hospital was built to more modern standards. The problem with predicting these things is there is no way to follow a progression of seismic events that will lead to a specific major event at a specific time. In tropical storms people can be evacuated after indications are that the storm will hit a specific region in a given time frame. That technology does not exist for earthquakes, all the preparations in the world will not save you if your home falls on your head.

No, nothing will save you from that. However, the casualties caused by direct impact usually are not that large, unless the earthquake is huge. The deaths from disease, lack of water can be staggering, and that is preparation is for. Proper preparation and planning might cut the death toll by 95% in some cases. Is that worth doing? Of course, yes.

[dwest]

I understand the L'Aquila hospital was built to more modern standards. The problem with predicting these things is there is no way to follow a progression of seismic events that will lead to a specific major event at a specific time. In tropical storms people can be evacuated after indications are that the storm will hit a specific region in a given time frame. That technology does not exist for earthquakes, all the preparations in the world will not save you if your home falls on your head.

No, nothing will save you from that. However, the casualties caused by direct impact usually are not that large, unless the earthquake is huge. The deaths from disease, lack of water can be staggering, and that is preparation is for. Proper preparation and planning might cut the death toll by 95% in some cases. Is that worth doing? Of course, yes.

Assuming you have access to your ESK, emergancy suppy kit. A tornado took off the back of our home years ago, our pantry where we kept our ESK was MIA.

[MTGuru]

So Cal's most recent was 2.9 on 1/24/09, as far as I can gather.

Sure, we get those all the time.

Up to 50,000 now homeless in the L'Aquila region, according to the Red Cross.

[Redwolf]

6.3
So Cal's most recent was 2.9 on 1/24/09, as far as I can gather.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAj2PW5hTNg

We had a 4.3 up here in the north last week...not a big one by any standards, but a sobering reminder of what can happen. I was here for the big (7.1) Loma Prieta quake in '89. No matter how laid back we Californians can get about earthquakes, nothing really prepares you emotionally for something of that magnitude.

From what I'm hearing, a lot of what caused so much death in Italy was the very old buildings and narrow streets in the center of town, and that fact that it struck at night, when people were home sleeping. We had a similar situation here in Santa Cruz in '89...the main difference being that our quake struck in the early evening, so people were awake and able to move as soon as the shaking started. Still, downtown was all but destroyed. Had those been residences instead of businesses, and had the quake struck late at night, I suspect the death toll here would have been much higher than it was.

Redwolf

[djm]

From what I'm hearing, a lot of what caused so much death in Italy was the very old buildings and narrow streets in the center of town

Actually, it was the newer buildings that suffered the most damage and caused the most death. Residents are really ticked off to see what shoddy quality all these newer buildings were.

djm

[khl]

... BTW Giampaolo Giuliani predicted the likely hood of a major quake, how does one prepare for such an event when there is no definite timeline?

For individuals, stock a 3-day supply of food and water, a flashlight, a battery powered radio, a first aid kit. Have some cash money because electricity may be cut off, so ATMs and credit card machines may be out of order. Some travel with an emergency kit in their cars in case the roads become impassable and they are away from home.

Bill's advice seems to me really sound and helpful. Even a full day of simply going without electricity can make it tough for folks. When things get difficult (trucks can't get through the roads, or ships to the dock), the local grocery store can be depleted of basic food staples rather quickly with no means to replenish. A downtown city can be a desert, so to speak, rather quickly.

The three day supply, by the way, doesn't need to be the icky stuff often passed off as survival food. You can have "emergency" food that consists of food that fits the bill for nutrition but which you could eat without grimacing but rather actually enjoy.

One thing that we've found helpful are the combination hand crank radio/flashlights. This helps with the worry of losing battery power after a while. It's really helpful to have the radio so one isn't in the dark, as they say, as to what's going on.

[Redwolf]

... BTW Giampaolo Giuliani predicted the likely hood of a major quake, how does one prepare for such an event when there is no definite timeline?

For individuals, stock a 3-day supply of food and water, a flashlight, a battery powered radio, a first aid kit. Have some cash money because electricity may be cut off, so ATMs and credit card machines may be out of order. Some travel with an emergency kit in their cars in case the roads become impassable and they are away from home.

Bill's advice seems to me really sound and helpful. Even a full day of simply going without electricity can make it tough for folks. When things get difficult (trucks can't get through the roads, or ships to the dock), the local grocery store can be depleted of basic food staples rather quickly with no means to replenish. A downtown city can be a desert, so to speak, rather quickly.

The three day supply, by the way, doesn't need to be the icky stuff often passed off as survival food. You can have "emergency" food that consists of food that fits the bill for nutrition but which you could eat without grimacing but rather actually enjoy.

One thing that we've found helpful are the combination hand crank radio/flashlights. This helps with the worry of losing battery power after a while. It's really helpful to have the radio so one isn't in the dark, as they say, as to what's going on.

Having been through three major disasters now, we've got this down to a science:

Three days worth of bottled drinking water.

A large, battery-operated radio (the hand-crank kind doesn't get good reception up here in the mountains)

Battery-operated lanterns for indoors (they cast more light than hand-held flashlights, so can be used for reading, playing games, etc., if the power is off for a long time)

Coleman lanterns for outdoors

A Coleman stove (we don't use this as much here, as we have a gas stove in the house, but still keep in case the gas has to be turned off after an earthquake).

Plenty of Coleman fuel

Food that tastes good and is nutritious, but can be either eaten cold or prepared with a minimum of cooking: Canned soups and chili, instant oatmeal, breakfast cereal, powdered milk, things of that nature.

A large ice chest and enough ice to fill it (to help stuff from the fridge last a little longer if the power is out for more than a day)

A taped wrench for turning off the gas at the main

Several glow sticks (safer to use right after an earthquake than flashlights, as turning on an electrical device can ignite gas, if there's a leak. Also safe for a nervous child to take to bed with her if she's afraid of the dark)

Batteries for all the battery-operated things we might want or need to use for a few days

Sufficient dog and cat food to last several days

A well-stocked first-aid kit

Sufficient amounts of both prescription and over-the-counter medication to last several days.

Emergency camping gear, in case we have to leave the house and can't find lodging for a few days.

Oh, and don't forget a manual can opener!

We also keep the cars gassed up above a half tank. One thing we discovered after Hurricane Fran is it can be impossible to buy gas when the power is out (you'd be amazed at how few gas stations have generators sufficiently powerful to run the pumps!). We keep our cell phones well-charged too, as our land line tends to go out when the power does.

Some emergency cash. Many stores these days won't take checks, credit cards or debit cards unless and until they have reliable phone or internet connections.

You know what used to surprise me, when we lived in North Carolina? Whenever there was the threat of something that might interrrupt power and keep people housbound for a few days (ice storm, hurricane, etc.) store shelves would empty rapidly of PERISHABLES. Bread, milk, eggs, etc. You never saw people (well, other than me and a few others) pushing shopping carts of canned goods and other shelf-stable foods. Instead you'd see carts stacked high with gallon jugs of milk! After Hurricane Fran, we were without power for seven days (and many areas were powerless for longer than that), and it was difficult to get anywhere because of all the downed trees and powerlines...I sure hope all those folks were into cheesemaking!

Redwolf

[crookedtune]

Does anyone know of an English-language website with local updates on this situation? I'll be spending two weeks in north-central Italy next month, and might want to plan around any cleanup efforts still going on.