What people should do during earthquake shaking, to protect themselves from injury or death? It depends. Evidence-based guidance describes a process and key considerations for creating effective messages for different contexts.

This workbook follows the steps to implement a messaging program about what to do during earthquake shaking given the local risk, building types, and other factors. This is a companion to Guidance on Developing Messages for Protective Actions to Take During Earthquake Shaking.

1. Epidemiology of Deaths and Earthquake Injuries, 

2. Protective Action in Immediate Fuse Events: a Literature Review, 

3. Designing Risk Communication Programs to Promote Adaptive Human Behavior During Earthquakes and Tsunamis, 

4. On the Nature of Strong Ground Motions during Damaging Earthquakes, 

5. Understanding and Mitigating Building Collapses, 

6. Public perceptions of protective action, survey in three countries, 

7. Summary of discussions with an international group of disaster messaging professionals

Royal Government of Bhutan, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, The World Bank; Applied Technology Council Endowment Fund. A detailed reference for engineers to use after an earthquake occurs, when they must evaluate thousands of buildings and determine whether these are safe to occupy. Features damages common to masonry and rammed-earth building types in Bhutan. For sale through Applied Technology Council:

This manual for engineers and designers explains how the building type known as concrete-frames-with-masonry-infill-walls can be designed and built for greater seismic safety. Around the globe, this common building type has been lethal in earthquakes. Five affordable strategies are presented.

Shows how to equip hospitals to function in a disaster: plan for backup utilities, find and mitigate vulnerabilities in the buildings, and secure objects that could topple and cause injuries in an earthquake. Intended for hospital administrators, engineers, and maintenance staff. 

Additional Resources

• Course for Maintenance and Facilities Personnel: Instructor Guide  

• Course for Nurses: Student Guide

• Course for Nurses: Instructor Guide 

• Course for Doctors: Instructor Guide

A guide for non-technical people (concerned citizens, government officials, staff at I/NGOs) who want to organize, educate, and lead local tsunami preparedness campaigns. Compiles earth science, social science and emergency planning information.

This guide explains how to prepare schools before an earthquake, to avoid significant injuries or blocked exits that result when unsecured objects fall during shaking.

Adobe is brittle and weak and vulnerable to earthquake damage. Techniques described are intended to 1) reduce damage to adobe homes in small and medium earthquakes, and 2) help reduce collapse of adobe homes in earthquakes. They MAY NOT PREVENT COLLAPSE in a strong earthquake.

2009-2010 - GeoHazards Society, with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH), studied whether the traditional housing typologies used by the community in high seismic prone areas are strong enough to resist the anticipated intensity of earthquakes in the region.

A process for nations to develop an effective school earthquake safety program, prepared for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).