THE PHILIPPINES is no stranger to earthquakes but Monday’s 7.8 magnitude tremor that hit Turkey and Syria and so far left 4,800 people dead still upsets us all because clearly earthquake is like a thief in the night; we don’t know when it would strike and how devastating it would be.
We must be reminded that the unpredictability of earthquakes highlights the need for early action. There is no substitute to early preparation.
But where do we start?
It is important that we keep our people aware of what they must do to be safe from earthquakes and their after-effects. And because there is yet no technology to predict earthquakes, preparedness for such eventuality becomes even more important. This is where government decisiveness and political will become crucial.
Among the priority steps that must be undertaken include the promotion of disaster-resilient urban development; ensuring the structural integrity of buildings and critical infrastructures; formulating emergency supply system for water, food and other necessities; and determining open spaces for safe refuge when tremors occur.
The government must ensure that all structures, especially bridges, school buildings and hospitals, are earthquake-proof through the conduct of a nationwide structural evaluation and by retrofitting these structures to allow them to withstand destructive earthquakes.
Earthquakes turn into major disasters due to unsafe structures — poorly built structures, buildings in inappropriate places, inadequate design and materials specification, and shortcuts in construction. Inspection during the construction of both public and private infrastructure is thus important. The additional expense required for making structures safe from earthquakes is worth it especially if it would save thousands of precious lives.
In truth, earthquakes themselves do not kill people. What do kill people are poor planning, inadequate preparedness, and the lack of application of appropriate building standards.
