Seismologists debunk 13 earthquake myths from social media

Veronica Cidelus and Gerardo Suarez debunk 13 myths about earthquakes and earthquake safety. They explain why doorways are not safe, and why the “triangle of life” is actually dangerous. They also explain how seismologists and experts work together to prepare for earthquakes. Visit Insider’s business section for more stories.

Here is a transcript of the video.

Gerardo Suarez: “The Earth could open up during an earthquake.” Everything disappears in the earth. Earthquakes don’t work like this. “You should always try to get out” when an earthquake strikes.

Veronica Sidilos: In the midst of running, you can get seriously injured.

Suarez: “California will fall into the ocean.” Well, the answer is of course no.

Hey, I’m Veronica Sidilus. I am a structural engineer by training. I am currently the President of GeoHazards International.

My name is Gerardo Suarez. I am a senior scientist at the Geophysics Institute of the National University of Mexico. Today, we debunk myths about earthquakes and earthquake safety.

Suarez: These are social media myths. “The entrances are a safe place to shelter during an earthquake.” And Veronica, I think you’re better prepared than me.

Siddles: Yes. This is definitely a myth. Something that we’ve heard, I think, in the past, a very old building. And that was when the frame surrounding the doors was actually part of the building skeleton that actually preserved the building, so it was a really strong part of the structure. Modern construction does not have that. In fact, the doors are by no means stronger, so they are really not very useful or protective during earthquake vibration. And in fact, I would say that by sticking to a door frame, if you have a door that swings during strong earthquakes, you can be badly injured.

Suarez: There is no universal formula to be safe. It depends on how your home, apartment building, and place of residence are built, even in which part of the city you live.

Seedless: Work must be done before the earthquake in terms of finding a safe place. Create a safe place. So, trying to figure out, well, if there is vibration, looking around your house and seeing what could or would have fallen down can be heavy.

Suarez: This question is about the “triangle of life”. Will he save you?

Seedless: You can see some of these spaces after the vibration occurs, but what you don’t see is what happened in between. And so it might be that this very dense thing, with strong vibration, might have moved a long way, or that things could actually tip over, and in many cases it could actually be even more dangerous to be there. If you can get under a sturdy table, this probably works best. Protecting your head and neck is really important.

Suarez: But yes, there might be some cases where people were rescued because they were accidentally caught between a very strong object and maybe a beam or something that fell to the ground. But I think it’s more circumstantial evidence than anything else.

Seedless: “Earthquake-proof buildings are indestructible.” I want to distinguish between earthquake-proof and earthquake-proof. Therefore, in practice, we usually do not design or construct earthquake resistant buildings. Therefore, the similarity may be waterproof versus waterproof. And I think for a very long time we’ve been really trying to make sure our designs are safe for life. So they were really protecting the people inside the building. Now, what we learned when we saw earthquakes in other parts of the world, that does not mean that you will not cause damage to the building. Thus, perhaps after the earthquake, your building is no longer functioning and you can no longer stay in it. If this happens on a large scale, you will suddenly find an entire city that cannot be inhabited or buildings that cannot be used for business. And so it really affects the economy and society as a whole. And now there is a big move to try to move towards designing not just for safety of life but actually so-called “functional recovery”, with the idea that you can recover in a shorter period of time.

“Small earthquakes prevent large earthquakes.”

Suarez: Well, I have bad news for people who believe in this, because people say, “Oh, it’s been very active, a lot of small earthquakes, so they’re consuming fault-focused energy.” And indeed, yes, they release some energy. And it happens in places we call subduction zones, where one tectonic plate passes under another, and there are dozens, literally hundreds of small earthquakes in a certain time frame at a certain location. But, ultimately, in these active faults, you will have a major earthquake. Mainly, I would only say greater than 7.5 on the Richter scale. This is required to release the energy that has built up.

Siddles: I think there is a misconception that only the big problem will be the most serious. But, in fact, what we’re seeing is that even with moderate earthquakes, there can be a lot of injuries and even death. We know that unreinforced chimneys are highly susceptible to collapse under very low levels of vibration. And those who fall into a house, for example, can be very dangerous.

Suarez: “We are late for a major earthquake.” Therefore, when we say “late”, we mean that we know that the earthquake must have happened before, but it did not. This is something we simply do not know.

Cedillos: prediction versus prediction. I think this is where we got a little bit of a misunderstanding, because we can predict, usually in probabilities, and say there is a possibility that this magnitude of the earthquake will fall within this region. Therefore, we cannot predict precisely where and when the earthquake will occur.

Suarez: Everyone who lives in a seismic zone should be aware. Everyone should have a kit at home. You need some water, you need a projector, and so on.

OK. These are pop culture myths.

“You should always try to get out” when an earthquake strikes.

Sidelus: For the most part, this is probably not a very safe practice, running outside while an earthquake is shaking, especially because things can often fall outside. In the midst of running, you can be seriously injured. In one situation where it is a good idea, that is in an adobe building that is not being reinforced or reinforced in some way. These buildings are especially dangerous when you have a heavy roof. If you’re on the ground floor of one of these buildings, you’ll want to try running out, assuming you’re running out of open space. But if you are really out, stay out. You want to try to get away from building façades, because bricks can fall off. You want to be very careful about that.

Suarez: “The ground could break open during an earthquake.” It is a myth that must be debunked. This myth comes out a lot from earthquake movies, as you see that during an earthquake, a large crack breaks open and engulfs buildings, people and cars. After that, it shuts off with force, and everything disappears into the ground. This does not happen. Earthquakes don’t work like this. In certain soils, cracks form due to intense vibration, but they are relatively shallow cracks. I mean they wouldn’t swallow, not even a kitten. Perhaps that image was extrapolated in this wonderful idea of ​​these huge mouths as swallowing everything in their surroundings. So, no. The answer is definitely no.

“In the United States, an earthquake large enough can be felt on the West Coast, on the East Coast.”

It’s going to be so big that you’ll feel it on the East Coast even though it happens here in California.

Siddles: No, this is not what we expected! It’s just a big enough distance and we don’t expect anyone to feel any major shaking on the east coast from a large earthquake on the west coast. The plates and type of rocks found on the east coast versus the west coast differ. And what happens is the kind of rocks that we have on the East Coast, earthquake waves, and seismic waves can travel much further. So what happens is that on the East Coast, you will be able to perceive or actually feel the great tremor at much farther distances from the epicenter, or the origin of the place where the earthquake started. Unlike the West Coast, where those seismic waves are, in fact that energy is absorbed faster and therefore does not travel far.

“We are able to predict earthquakes.”

Suarez: This is a very simple answer. it’s not. No, we cannot yet predict earthquakes. I added the word “after”. I wouldn’t say the goal of seismology is still to be able to predict earthquakes. I think that the goal of everyone who works in seismology or engineering seismology is not to predict earthquakes, but to prepare for major earthquakes, to understand the phenomenon.

Cedillos: There are uses for what we call “earthquake scenarios” and what these are, they are not predictions, but they are incredibly useful in the sense that we often don’t see changes in symbols or anything until after an earthquake and we’ve learned everything that went wrong. We are using the earthquake scenario tool – so, we pick a believable earthquake that could happen in a particular area to try to understand what might be some of the major vulnerabilities around that specific city or area, be it the water system, housing or hospitals, to try to go ahead and try to inculcate practices Or safer measures that will help us address these vulnerabilities before an earthquake strikes.

Mythologists hear the most.

Suarez: So, “in tall buildings, it is always safe to be in a basement.”

Cedillos: If you are in a tall building, especially in a place where the codes are usually followed, then you are likely actually under higher design requirements and thus, as long as the building is safe, it doesn’t matter much where you are. However, if there is more movement, that’s when it is really important to make sure that the contents inside your home, or whatever, your office building, are secured and that they can’t fall and hurt you.

Suarez: “California will fall into the ocean.” Well, the answer is of course no. You know, California won’t fall into the ocean. Part of California, the western part of California, lies on the Pacific Plate, while the rest of California is located on the North American Plate. These two plates move relative to each other at a rate of about 5 to 6 centimeters per year. So, yeah, when people say Los Angeles is going to end near Anchorage, well, yeah, in the end, but in millions of years.

OK. “There is such a thing as seismic weather.” but not. There is no season for earthquakes, there is no weather for earthquakes, and there is no set time for earthquakes. You might think of a very good time for an earthquake. It might be very uncomfortable.

Seedless: When you think of an earthquake jolt, you need to think of different times of the year and different times of the day. You might be sleeping, or it could be winter. it might rain. So the danger is that you don’t think about all of these scenarios.

“Larger earthquakes occur under the full moon.”

Suarez: People associate that with tidal clouds. And it is true. We are very accustomed to ocean deformation and tidal changes in water levels depending on the cycles of the moon. This also happens on Earth. The Earth itself, the continents themselves are distorted by the rotation of the Moon. The deformation is not large enough to produce earthquakes. And people looked at the statistics to see, and there was no correlation at all.

Cedillos: There are a lot of actions that you need to take to really protect communities and protect people that you need to take years before an earthquake actually strikes.

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