Earthquake Preparedness for Commuters

The recent devastating earthquake in Nepal has brought earthquake preparedness back in vogue. Particularly, the West Valley Fault in Metro Manila has drawn a lot of special attention because just like in Nepal, the West Valley Fault is overdue for a movement.

Emergency supplies, go bags and evacuation locations are among the preparations being suggested. These are all good strategies. What lacks emphasis, however, is the peculiar situation of the commuter.

What if an earthquake strikes while you're riding the jeepney or you're walking on a sidewalk far away from home? Your emergency supplies at home would be useless to you then. Even if you owned a car, if an earthquake strikes and you're far away from your parked car, what then?

In order to partially address this information gap, the following are a few tips and strategies that a regular commuter can implement in order to make preparedness into a mindset rather than just a collection of items. This certainly won't be the bible of preparedness, but it will hopefully give you a framework upon which to start from or to add to your existing disaster preparations.

The tips are segregated based on what to do before an earthquake, during one and dealing with the aftermath. Again, the basic assumption of the following tips is that you are a commuter caught away from home the moment an earthquake hits.

BEFORE

1. Prepare a small emergency kit that you can take anywhere.

It's perfectly alright to prepare a go bag, but you can't bring it with you everywhere (just try doing the groceries while lugging it around). It would be best to have a small emergency kit that you can keep on your person, such as in your purse or belt bag. Contents can include:

- pouch-sized first aid kit (available at Mercury Drugstore)
- anti-bacterial cream to spread on cuts
- painkiller tablets
- small LED flashlight, your option of rechargeable or disposable (some tiangges sell those for as low as P10)
- thermal blanket (check True Value or some outdoor shops for these)
- 1 or 2 individually packed granola bars / trail mix
- whistle and compass

If you want to be more exotic, you can also include:

- LifeStraw personal water filter
- multi-tool or Swiss Army Knife (be careful of folding knives as you can be hassled by security guards if they find one on you while trying to enter a mall)
- Kevlar-lined workman's gloves (so that your hands don't get cut if you need to move debris with sharp edges)

2. Play the safety game.

Wherever you find yourself, try to identify the safest place you can get to from where you are if an earthquake suddenly struck. Of course, this requires you to pay more attention to your surroundings than normal, but eventually it should become second nature to you.

You want to avoid areas where heavy objects can fall on you, anywhere with a lot of wires, electrical equipment, LPG or flammable objects. Often you will need to choose the least of the bad choices, so it's your judgement call. You would also want to avoid anywhere with a lot of glass. During a strong earthquake, shattered glass can become deadly projectiles scything around the area (that's why it's not a good idea to be running around during an earthquake).

You don't have much time to react when a quake strikes, so knowing in advance where to take shelter or what you are going to do might mean all the difference to your survival.

3. Take note of the emergency evacuation areas.

There are official evacuation camps (listed below), but it also helps if you and your family also decided in advance where they would proceed in case a disaster happens while they are away from home (e.g., if it's a school day, your kid can be instructed to stay in school or proceed to a nearby relative's place).

Here are the emergency evacuations camps that have been identified:

North Quadrant	North Quadrant Evacuation Zones
Caloocan	Veterans Memorial Golf Course
Valenzuela	U.P. Diliman
Quezon City
San Juan
Mandaluyong

East Quadrant	East Quadrant Evacuation Zones
Pasig	LRT-2 Santolan Depot
Marikina	Marikina Boys Town
	Red Cross Marikina
	Ultra Pasig

West Quadrant	West Quadrant Evacuation Zones
Manila	Intramuros Golf Course
Malabon
Navotas

South Quadrant	South Quadrant Evacuation Zones
Las Pinas	Villamor Air Base Golf Course
Makati
Muntinlupa
Paranaque
Pateros
Taguig
Pasay

Soure: Evacuation camps in case of a 7.2M quake in West Valley identified

DURING

If you have been playing the safety game, proceed to your pre-identified safe area if possible. There's not much you can do at this point, so the simplest strategy is "duck, cover and hold" until it's all over.

AFTER

1. Assess yourself for injuries. If you are wounded, apply first aid on yourself and apply the anti-bacterial cream to prevent infection.

2. If you can move, assess your surroundings for a safe path out. If you can't find a way out, you can use your whistle in case you hear any rescue crews nearby.

3. Decide if you will proceed home, to your pre-arranged evacuation location or to the nearest official evacuation center. Please note that a disaster of this scale can overwhelm even the most prepared first world nation, so be realistic about what relief you can expect from emergency services. Most likely you will be on your own, cut off from any communication with your loved ones (expect electricity, internet and cellphone services to be down).

You may need to scavenge for supplies and if you're too far from home, you may need to spend the night out in the rubble. Bridges may have collapsed or roads be unsafe to travel on. In that case, you need to find a passably defensible shelter where you can wait out the night (not a good idea to travel in the dark).  The thermal blanket in your emergency kit can help keep you warm through the night, especially if it's also raining.

It helps if you happen to be in a group with people you trust, since someone can alternate on guard duty during the night. A group will require more food and water to sustain though so it may complicate your logistics.

Aftershocks will also be a problem, so try to avoid structures that may topple over at the next aftershock.

LONG TERM PROGNOSIS

Realistically, if the West Valley Fault does move, the long term future of Metro Manila will be quite bleak. If the damage to infrastructure is too extensive, supplying the city's surviving inhabitants with fresh food and water will be a problem, so it may actually be safer to evacuate from Metro Manila entirely at least for a few months (if not a few years). You will need to factor this in for your long term planning.

In the meantime, stay safe!

Other sources and references:

Earthquake tips: what to do before, during, and after
PHILVOCS Earthquake Preparedness Guide (PDF)