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Study determines many actions that could have reduced casualties
in San Salvador are low cost and could be feasibly implemented
Released: April, 2001
Palo Alto, CA--Earthquake devastation can be greatly reduced
by inexpensive actions taken ahead of time. Earthquake experts
at GeoHazards International (GHI) are familiar with the perils
faced by many Latin American countries and can help them reduce
these risks before major disasters hit, instead of afterwards.
A recent study presented by GHI at the annual Seismological
Society of America (SSA) meeting in San Francisco, indicates
that the lack of earthquake preparation and the threat of earthquake
induced landslides in San Salvador was known before hand, and
these and other problems in threatened cities worldwide will
continue to cause devastation until addressed by the international
community.
"The disasters that occurred in El Salvador, and later in
India, are tragedies that are painful to watch," said Dr. Brian
Tucker, a geophysicist and President of the nonprofit organization.
"First, for the reason it's painful to everyone else: watching
the suffering of poor people and innocent children is difficult."
"Second, because for a fraction of the cost of all the aid that
is poured in to help after the event, the death, injury and
economic loss would have been greatly reduced if measures were
taken before the earthquake," he said. "And finally, because
little attention is given to other cities that are as vulnerable
as San Salvador and Bhuj [India] were. There must be a global
response to help people suffering from these disasters, but
then let us turn to help reduce the damage from future disasters."
Tucker and other experts at GHI have been studying and reporting
on the special vulnerability of developing countries since 1991.
Population growth in urban areas, poor construction, political
upheavals, and a lack of government resources add up to a fragile
balance. As they grow and begin to prosper, countries in Latin
America and elsewhere cannot invest in city-based planning and
preparedness for emergencies. So, when disaster strikes, the
losses are monumental.
Through its Global Earthquake Safety Initiative (GESI), a
project that assesses the risk of loss of life from earthquakes
in cities worldwide, GHI recently determined that many of the
necessary actions to reduce casualties in San Salvador are low
cost and could be feasibly implemented. For example, several
of the problems faced by emergency response teams could have
been avoided by coordinating agencies so that they know the
role they need to play in emergencies, and that community leaders
have the ability to make decisions without waiting for lengthy
bureaucratic processes.
Stressing the need to involve community leaders throughout
the risk management process, GHI expert Amy Young attested to
the effectiveness of spreading the ownership of the problem
and solutions over the entire community. "GHI tries to help
cities become aware of the fact that their earthquake risk is
not a technical problem to be handled by technical experts alone.
Decisions that are made on a daily basis by individuals, communities
and governments can add or reduce a city's risk."
GHI hopes to continue its work in Latin America, especially
on the heels of the El Salvador earthquake. So far, earthquake
vulnerability data has been collected for 21 cities worldwide.
Aspects of each city that contribute to its overall risk have
been analyzed. The results indicate that while San Salvador
has the highest overall risk of earthquake-induced landslide
risk among Latin American cities, there are other cities among
those studied that have greater overall risk of life loss, and
possibly more that have not yet been studied.
Landslides in San Salvador are a GHI focus because as urbanization
rapidly increases, more people move to the city's outskirts
in the hilly landslide-prone areas. Through GESI, which is being
carried out jointly with the United Nation's Center for Regional
Development, experts from GHI determined that during an earthquake,
landslides are the single greatest risk threatening the people
of San Salvador. "It is sad," said Carlos Villacís, GHI Latin
American Project Manager. "The people of El Salvador and their
neighbors are doing the best they can to recover. But we need
to do more work ahead of time to avoid the chaos, confusion,
and damage that results in these vulnerable parts of the world."
GeoHazards International is a non-profit organization working
towards the reduction of death and suffering due to earthquakes
in the world's most vulnerable communities. GHI has worked extensively
on earthquake risk in Latin America and Asia for the last 8
years, and in San Salvador, El Salvador for the last 3 years.
Based in Palo Alto, California, GHI staff are internationally
recognized as experts in the field of community seismic risk
assessment and planning for risk reduction in third world cities.
GHI has completed several city-based projects to assess local
vulnerability, raise awareness and motivate action by proposing
plans to reduce future risk.
Cities can then understand the risks, change their building
practices, protect schools and plan for communications and emergency
response systems. Tucker says that investing in scenario forecasts,
action plans and education of the people and leaders is not
very costly and can mean a much lower cost to respond and recover
from earthquakes and landslides. Preparation and planning are
the cornerstones to preventing life loss and economic collapse
in communities at risk from earthquakes, and the lack of such
planning is presently hampering rescue and recovery efforts
in San Salvador. Costs to avoid loss through preparation and
planning are insignificant compared with the billions of dollars
that are now expected will be needed to help El Salvador recover
from the quake. For example, in the 1986 earthquake that last
struck El Salvador, it is estimated that losses totaled 31%
of the Gross National Product.
GeoHazards International works with communities that are most
in need and are most ready to be helped. San Salvador has been
a focus of recent work since it is well poised as a newly democratic,
economic hub that is stable and ready to work towards reducing
the threat of natural disasters. However, developing countries
cannot make progress or even survive if they are devastated
by major geological disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes,
every few years. "It is essential that communities such as San
Salvador be given the help they need to prepare in advance for
natural disasters, to reduce the cities' vulnerability and ensure
that the necessary services and programs are in place when needed,"
said Tucker. He explained that while it is possible and feasible
to lower the risk of life loss and economic loss, nations that
can afford to help must do so.
Additional graphics, statistics, disaster mitigation examples,
and Spanish language translation are available.
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For further information contact:
Brian Tucker
GeoHazards International
(650) 614-9050
tucker@geohaz.org |
