reon
02-21-2005, 11:58 PM
Lately puro earthquake yata ang napapag-usapan ng mga tao, bukod pa doon sa tsunami sa South Asia, meron ding malakas na lindol last week na ang epicenter ay nasa Ibaraki (may nabasag na baso sa bahay, nabasag din ang wall clock, at tumapon ang tubig sa aquarium).
Naalala ko yung unang lindol ko sa Japan, nasa classroom kami at biglang tayo agad ako (at ako lang, nasa upuan lang ang mga classmates kong puro hindi Pinoy) at takbo agad sa labas. Hinarang naman ako ng sensei namin sa pintuan, “Sige, bumalik ka na sa upuan mo…” Kaya hiyang-hiya naman akong bumalik sa upuan ko, habang nakatingin lang at nakangiti ang ibang tao sa classroom.
May naikuwento din sa akin ang kaibigan ko na nangyari last week: lasa lab daw sila ng kasama niyang Chinese at Sri Lankan (na puro balbas) at nag-earthquake. E, di takbuhan sila sa labas. Meron daw nakakita sa kanila na isang matandang Japanese na babae at nanginig sa nerbiyos. 
Na-i-imagine ko na lang kung ano ang expression sa mukha ng kawawang babae – may tatlong gaijin na tumatakbo papunta sa kanya. :hihi: (Hindi regular na sight ang mga nagtatakbuhan na gaijin, hehe.)
Meron naman akong nakuhang government pamphlet na nakakalat sa office sa trabaho: “地震に自信を” (“Jishin ni jishin wo” or “Earthquake Emergency Procedures” sa Ingles, pero hindi naman ito ang literal na translation). Wala naman sigurong magagalit kung i-post ko dito ang contents. Eto:
EARTHQUAKE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
Foreword
First, you should know that survival is not luck. You can survive an earthquake and minimize its damage simply by becoming aware of potential hazards and taking some basic precautions. Develop a family earthquake plan. Prepare yourself, your family and your home with this guidebook.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency keeps people updated with the very latest information through their homepage. (Refer to http://www.fdma.go.jp (http://www.fdma.go.jp/))
How to protect yourself
- Stay calm and seek safety.(1) Get under the nearest desk or table.
Try to get under a sturdy desk or table. Cover your head with a cushion or pillow.
During a strong earthquake, furniture, etc. may fall down, so it is important to protect your head. (2) Secure an exit.
When you feel an earthquake, open a door right away. This ensures an escape route after the earthquake is over.
(3) Do not rush outside.
Usually a strong earthquake will end within a minute or so. Seek shelter in the room you’re in and stay there until it’s over.
And earthquake may warp doors, making it impossible to open them. Falling debris such as glass and overhead signs are a major risk faced when rushing outdoors in a panic during an earthquake.
2. Prevention of fires (1) Extinguish open flames the moment you feel an earthquake.
Be quick to turn off any hear sources in use such as gas burners and heating stoves. Turn off the stopcock of gas appliances and unplug electrical appliances.
When evacuating after an earthquake is over, make sure to switch off the circuit breaker. (Electrical appliances that have fallen down due to an earthquake might possibly contact inflammable articles scattered around there and cause a fire.)
Stoves were the major culprit in fires that occurred in the 1993 earthquake offshore at Kushiro. (2) Put out any fires that may have started.
Use water or fire extinguisher to put them out. Shout “KAJI” (fire) to notify your neighbors and get their assistance.
Stay calm and remember: “Put out fires.”
3. Stay away from narrow streets, walled streets, cliffs and river banks. Don’t stand under eaves of homes or buildings because roofing tiles, bricks, glass or concrete may fall on you.
Stay away from cliffs and river banks because the ground there may have loosened, making a landslide possible.
Temporarily evacuate to a sturdy building or public square if possible. 4. Evacuation procedure (1) Evacuate on foot with minimal amount of personal belongings.
Evacuate on foot. Wear comfortable, loose clothing. Carry only personal belongings on your back.
Don’t evacuate by car. Cars will cause a traffic problem that may contribute to the delay of emergency vehicles. (2) “Tsunami” (Tidal waves caused by earthquakes).
If you live near a beach, evacuate to higher ground quickly when you feel either a strong earthquake (Degree 4 or higher on the seismic scale) or a weak but lasting tremor.
Listen to the radio for news concerning “Tsunami”.
(3) Get away from the bottoms of mountains and cliffs.
Landslides usually occur shortly after an earthquake. Evacuate from a dangerous area as soon as possible.
Tsunami may strike the shore before the authorities have time to issue a warning. Therefore, evacuate quickly. Stay away from areas where landslides have occurred. 5. Be sure that the information you receive is correct. Don’t listen to rumors. Follow the news of TV or radio.
Follow the instructions given by the municipal office, fire department and police department.
Don’t use a phone unnecessarily. Calling the fire department, etc. to seek news on disaster status can affect their activities.
Rumors will spread rapidly after a major earthquake. Don’t listen to them. 6. Join forces for first aid. Provide first aid for slightly injured people in cooperation with others.
If there are many injuries, emergency services may not be able to handle all of the cases.
In order to acquire first aid skills, please take part in first aid lecture meetings held by fire stations and other competent organizations. 7. Join forces for rescue. If you find a person pinned under a collapsed structure or a fallen object, join forces with other community members for rescue activities.
Rescue activities at both individual and community levels can play a vital role in saving lives. It is advised that your home and neighborhood be equipped with materials such as flashlights, blankets and shovels to prepare for disasters. At a community level, it is vitally important that all members remember the location where rescue equipment and first aid supplies are stored. 8. What to do when driving a car. Immediately pull over to the side of the road or into a vacant lot and turn off your engine.
Listen for news on the radio. Follow the instructions of the police. Evacuate on foot, leaving the key in the car.
During an earthquake it is difficult to control your car. It is similar to driving with a flat tire.
Daily Preparation
- Anti-disaster training Actively participate in anti-disaster training courses and evacuation classes.
Anti-disaster Day is September 1, and anti-disaster week is from August 30 to September 5. - Discuss as a family what to do during an earthquake. Family members should talk about the following points and their responsibilities during an earthquake:
Where the safest place at home.
Check the first aid kit and look around for fire hazards.
Who will be responsible for evacuating babies and the elderly.
Placed and routes to evacuate.
Who takes what during an evacuation and who knows the location of the earthquake kit.
Decide the responsibilities of family members for both day and night earthquakes.
Prepare evacuation cards and emergency belongings for each family member.
3. Reinforcing your house. Check and reinforce the foundation and main structural supports of your house as well as the roof tiles.
4. Reinforcing brick and stone walls. Many casualties occur from failing bricks and stones. This is because the walls are poorly constructed. Check your walls to ensure the they are amply reinforced.
18 out 28 deaths in the 1978 earthquake offshore at Miyagi Prefecture were caused by stones and bricks falling from walls and gateways. 5. Preventing furniture and elevated furnishings from tipping over or falling down. Secure furniture with brackets.
In the 1993 earthquake offshore at Kushiro, many people were injured by falling furniture and household articles as well as glass fragments. 6. Preparing extinguishers. Prepare extinguishers, water for extinguishing fires, and related equipment to counter unexpected earthquakes and fires.
Flashlight and extinguisher
Triangular bucket containing water.
Filling bathtub with water
Slippers and sneakers with thick soles to prevent injuries due to broken glass on the floor.
Extinguishers should be put it easy-to-use places where they can easily be reached.
7. Preparing personal effects and a first aid kit for emergencies. Prepare minimum personal effects and a first aid kit so that you can use them when you evacuate for emergency reasons.
Put earthquake kits where you can easily reach them.
The weight of men’s earthquake kits should not be more than 15 kg, and women’s not more than 10 kg.
8. Preventing fires. (1) To prevent electrically induced fires.
When installing a quake-sensing type of circuit breaker designed to sense an earthquake and automatically shut off the power, make sure that power sources are secured for emergency lighting fixtures that are vital for smooth evacuations. (You need to know which power source is shut off on what occasion.)
When buying a new electrical appliance, make sure to check what kind of safety device it is equipped with.
In the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthqauke, approximately 30 percent of fires that broke out were electrically induced. (2) Use gas and oil appliances safely.
Understand the characteristics and proper use of gas appliances equipped with a meter having a microcomputer-based safety device.
The recommended type of oilstove is one with quake-sensing and self-extinguishing capabilities; and for gas stoves, the recommended type is one featuring a device designed to shut off the gas if it is tipped over.
Take care so that objects put on shelves around a gas stove won’t fall down during an earthquake.
In the North Ridge Earthquake that occurred in the Los Angeles region, fires broke out due to gas leakage.
9. To confirm family members’ safety. Predetermine a place for the family to reunite when an earthquake has occurred.
Choose one of your relatives or friends (preferable one living in a remote place) as a central contact point for family safety information during an earthquake.
Discuss among family members how to effectively use the NTT “Disaster Message Exchange Dial 171”.
In the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, safety inquiry calls were concentrated to such an extent that it became extremely difficult to get calls through to the stricken area.
mOtt_erU
09-28-2006, 03:30 AM
hi Reon San:)
it`S never to Late to learn new things…
Thanks po sa mga Impormasyon nato about sa kung anong gagawin mo tuwing may kalamidad na gaya ng Lindol… ichiban kowaii na calamity ko pa naman yan.
love0308
10-05-2006, 04:28 PM
Thank you po sa mga prevention tips:D it helps a lot po:)
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