Controversial recommendations by “rescue expert” Doug Copp on what to do during an earthquake have been circulating in emails and on the internet. He says the standard advice—Drop! Cover! Hold! —is wrong. Instead, he advises people to curl up in “voids,” small areas next to substantial items that are unlikely to compress totally when buildings collapse
This message is causing confusion, especially in schools. “Should we change what we have been teaching as the appropriate response to earthquakes?” officials are asking us.
We believe—as do the U.S. Geological Survey, the American Red Cross, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency—that Drop! Cover! Hold! remains the best reaction when earthquakes occur.
Earthquake shaking results in things falling—ceiling tiles, overhead light fixtures, bookcases, file cabinets, glass from broken windows, and masonry. If you are under a sturdy piece of furniture, you are protected from falling debris and overturning furniture.
Total collapse of buildings in Idaho is not expected. Even in the M7.3 Borah Peak earthquake in 1983, while there was significant damage in Challis, Mackay, and Arco, no building collapsed.
And despite Copp’s contention, there is evidence that even when buildings do collapse, Drop! Cover! Hold! will still offer life-safety protection.
See Copp’s business site at http://www.amerrescue.org/
and an urban legends report at http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/triangle.asp
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