Injuries and occupant behavior in earthquakes.

Reprinted from an unidentified journal; the date is an approximation only

Reprint

Life safety is the foundation of all earthquake hazard reduction measures. Therefore, we should base these measures on empirical evidence rather than speculation. Yet, until very recently, we had little hard information about the etiology of earthquake injuries in different U.S. building types. This paper proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework for earthquake injuries. It presents preliminary results of an epidemiological study of the role of physical environment and occupant behaviour in earthquake injuries, involving the injuries during the 1978 Santa Barbara, 1979 Imperial County and 1983 Coalinga, California, earthquakes. We also describe our work in progress concerning the injuries in the 1985 Chile earthquake. For the past earthquakes we document, not only the type of injury, but also the physical agent responsible. We analyse the relationship of the injury to factors such as building type, damage level and personal characteristics. Of major importance was the behaviour of the building occupants during the earthquake. We describe how specific actions either contributed to or helped to prevent earthquake injuries. We review several previous studies of occupant behaviour in past U.S. earthquakes. These involve the behaviour of patients and staff in five hospitals heavily damaged in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, and the response of office workers in the five story imperial County Services Building in the 1979 Imperial County earthquake. Finally, some suggestions are made for future research on the subject.