Earth quake – the big one

The strongest earthquake that i have experienced is the 1990 killer quake.  I was digging for soil underneath a neighbor’s house when the ground started to shake, instinct kick in and i run on an open field.  I didn’t quite remember back then why i stopped running when i reached an open field.  I’m not sure whether because i felt safe on the open field or frightened to run further because a saw houses beyond the open field swaying back and forth.  After the ground stopped shaking i went home and watched the news about the quake.

A lot of area was devastated by the earth quake, Baguio was one of the severely affected. A lot of building collapsed, alot of people died, and i learn a lot about earthquake back then.

Fastforward 2015,  A lot of people is terrified , anxious about earth quakes most especially when Philvocs said that as per their data the west valley fault might move within our lifetime and it would create a 7.2 intensity earthquake and might result on a huge casualty.

Currently, there is no scientific instrument in the world that can predict when and how strong an earthquake will struck. The best thing we can do is to prepare for the worst.

Retrofit or make your house sturdier. As per recommendation column post of houses should 3 meters apart. If you have a column post that are more than 3  apart then you need to put brace in between the column post to make it sturdier.

Check for cracks on walls and  fix it. If your wall swaying in one direction better look for an engineer to check your house.A wall swaying to one side is a sign that you have a problem on your foundation, either your soil is to soft or liquefaction is setting in or there is no footing at all.

If you have cabinet that  are tall and would probably fall in case of an earthquake then better fixed it /nail it into your wall so when the ground start to shake it will not fall.

Remove any object that might fall near or into your bed, don’t be a victim of falling objects during your sleep.

There are a lot more that you can do for your safety just look around and think for the worst case scenario that could happen and then try to make a proactive solution for it…

 

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