How can people and places be protected from earthquakes?

How can people prepare for earthquakes?

  • Earthquake proof buildings- most deaths in cities in earthquake prone areas are caused when people are crushed inside collapsing buildings. Scientists can now test how different building materials survive. They can also design stronger buildings to survive earthquakes.
  • Education- government agencies and the media provide extensive guidelines in earthquake prone areas to help people to prepare for the period before, during and after an earthquake happens.
  • Emergency services- governments must plan carefully to make sure that the emergency services are prepared for possible earthquakes and that relief supplies are ready. If an earthquake is detected as soon as it starts, then better precautions can be taken: for example, power stations can be shut down so that there is less danger of fires from ruptured power lines, hospital generators started, and the emergency services can be alerted. Good communication with earthquake monitoring stations can also save lives. Predicting earthquakes can be expensive, because lots of special scientific equipment is needed. Poorer countries and regions will not be able to afford such equipment. 45 of 48
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