Earthquake preparedness

Although earthquakes are more frequent in some areas, such as California, they can occur almost anywhere. Places with a history of quakes have strict regulations regarding precautions, but occasionally a jolt in some place like New York reminds us that a laboratory planner should take them into account. 

There are two important safety measures that can be taken at very low cost. The first is to equip shelves with guard rails to keep reagent bottles from falling. The height of such rails should be adapted to the size of the containers. This is a requirement in California. The second is to fasten tall objects to the wall, a simple and inexpensive procedure. With bookcases, for example, the books may fall out but the case will stay in position and not tumble down with the whole load. 

Earthquakes may also jam doors, another good reason for having more than one door leading from a laboratory. 

Procedures to follow in case of an earthquake or a fire should be posted and reviewed with laboratory personnel from time to time. 

Most mechanical hazards in the laboratory can be avoided by good planning. There must be no obstructions in traffic areas, particularly those needed for rapid evacuation in case of emergency. Wide hallways may look like good parking places for movable equipment not currently in use. They may also seem convenient for storage of reagents and supplies that temporarily 

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Deal, A. 2011. Earthquake preparedness in schools in seismic hazard regions in the South-East of Turkey. Disaster Prevention and Management 20 (3) 334-348. 

O ft 3 Response Routes, Earthquake Preparedness, Chemical Spills,... 

Sustained Earthquake Preparedness Functional, Social, and Cultural Issues... 

Sustained Earthquake Preparedness Functional, Social, and Cultural Issues, Fig. 1 Summary of the relationship between protective action decision-making ... 

If people believe that their significant others (parents, spouses, friends, peer group, etc.) hold favorable attitudes toward preparedness or that performance of a specific behavior is likely to be interpreted favorably by significant others, they are more likely to perform these actions (Smith and Terry 2003). Prevailing social norms regarding preparedness expectations of significant others and personal motivation to act in ways consistent with these expectations increases the likelihood of preparing (Mclvor and Paton 2007). The work on individual predictors has been further developed in several theories of earthquake preparedness. 

Building on ideas advanced in the PrE theory, Paton et al. (2005) developed a theory that identified how critical awareness or the relative social salience (i.e., the extent to which people think and talk about earthquakes and earthquake preparedness with others in their community) of earthquakes was a key motivator of preparedness. Paton et al. s (2005) critical awareness theory demonstrated that the anxiety, outcome expectancy (response efficacy), self-efficacy, and problem-focused/action coping mediated the relationship between critical awareness and preparedness and so identified a need for these variables to be included as predictors of earthquake... 

PatOTi (2008) developed a community engagement theory that captured key elements of these relationships, empowerment and tmst, and the personal beliefs and social competencies that influenced preparedness decision-making under uncertainty. This theory has demonstrated an ability to predict earthquake preparedness (Paton 2013). 

Figure 1 summarizes the several variables that were implicated as predictors in the theories discussed above. It also includes how the PADM suggestions about information search and action might relate to these other variables. Collectively, this depiction could serve as a framework for future research into earthquake preparedness. The theories introduced above have empirically demonstrated their ability to account for differences in levels of earthquake preparedness. This confers upon them a capacity to inform the development of risk communication and community outreach strategies (see below)... 

A preliminary investigation of cultural equivalence was undertaken by examining whether Paton s (2008) community engagement theory (see above) of preparedness could account for differences in earthquake preparedness in countries (New Zealand, Japan, and Taiwan) that differ with regard to their relative positions on the individualistic-collectivistic cultural spectrum (see Fig. 2). This theory was selected for this initial comparison because its inclusion of both individual-level (outcome expectancy) and com-munity-/social-level process (community participation and collective efficacy) variables provides a useful starting point for studying cultures that... 

Crozier M, McClure J, Vercoe J, Wilson M (2006) The effects of land zoning information on judgments about earthquake damage. Area 38 143-152 Duval TS, Mulilis J-P (1995) A person-relative-to-event (PrE) approach to negative threat appeals and earthquake preparedness a field study. J Appl Soc Psychol 29 495-516... 

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