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"Running is one of the most dangerous things you can do," explained Brian Humphrey, Spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department and a previous Community Emergency Response Team instructor. "People can lose their lives when they run, especially when windows or glass mirrors are near. You should duck, cover and hold."
Various videos surfaced yesterday on TV and online of people doing the exact opposite. People ran, something that could be disastrous in a larger earthquake. The "duck, cover and hold" is sort of a mantra to ingrain in your head. "Find something to duck under or get near an interior wall, cover your head with your hands, sacrifice your arms [a contorted window can spray glass when it snaps], and hold on," says Humphrey.
Of course, ultimately, this will not always be the case Humphrey admits. There will always be situations, maybe a handful, where you want to run out of a room. One example: you work in a Nuclear Reactor.
"It is human instinct to run, but it has to be overcome," he further explains. "Impulsive actions will get you into trouble." Humphrey gives an example from the 1994 Northridge early morning earthquake: more people hurt themselves after surviving the quake by impulsively stepping out of bed onto the floor where shards of glass lay from broken windows. They became completely incapacitated.
But what if you're outside? Stay there and watch for falling glass and overhead wires. If you're in a car, pull over slowly to a stop. But what if you're in an urban area with high rises such as downtown on the sidewalk? Then there are cases where running into the lobby or alcove to protect yourself from falling shattered glass, bricks and other objects flying through windows. There are over 800 high rises in Los Angeles, so as Batman first learned, "mind your surroundings."
And as for the old habit of running to a doorway? Humphreys says not anymore. "We don't recommend the doorways any more -- knuckles get smashed."
Photo from a shattered window at Pomona City Hall yesterday by Irfan Khan/AP
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This advice is so generic and dumbed down as to be useless. I know how to run without injuring myself, thank you very much. In an earthquake things fall down: I would rather be somewhere without stuff over my head. Obviously you don't want to stand next to glass high rise buildings either. This kind of advice reminds me of the 'expert advice' to not use the elevators in the WTC on 9/11 - the people who did survived.
Luckily I have a few hall doorways that don't have any doors to swing.
This comment is from Brian Humphrey who e-mailed it to us because there was a login problem:
For the naysayers, we can only wish our best and reassure them that we'll eventually get to there when we finish caring for all the others who ran .
And *this*: http://snipurl.com/37tyw ... is far more common than most people think.
If that's not compelling enough, just ask someone if they would willingly allow another person to throw a brick, roof tile or flower pot forcefully at their head. Those are among the things that cause injuries and far worse when people fail to *think* before they act.
As Last readers view the pictures of this and other modern day earthquakes, I encourage them to make note of piles of debris. Whether small or large, such debris piles are made up of things like bricks, lumber and glass. They had to fall from somewhere.
In closing, I'll ask Last readers to Google some images of earthquakes, structure and collapse - and then make a choice they can truly live with.
"The LAFD: We don't tell you how to live your life, only how to survive it".
http://lafd.org/eqbook.pdf">http://lafd.org/eqbook.pdf
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
What if you're on an upper floor of a building and it caves in? My teacher said our school was built to sway with an earthquake will that prevent it from collapsing?
Thanks for the advice zach (and Brian Humphrey). I only found out yesterday from architect friends that standing under a doorway is actually not the safest thing to do. They said the same thing that Humphrey is saying -- duck and stand near an interior wall, or one with a piece of furniture near it so that if it does collapse the furniture can take some of the weight of the wall. Or if you're outside to duck and cover.
I ran like I was running from the cops...