Earthquake survival

Due to recent major earthquakes, this is what you should do whenever and wherever the catastrophic event occurs. Remember that stuff about hiding under a table or standing in a doorway? Well, this guy has a completely reverse opinion. It could save your life someday! Travellers, please take note.

EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: 'TRIANGLE OF LIFE'

My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake. I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries. I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.

The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something. Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the 'triangle of life'.

The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the 'triangles' you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.

TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Most everyone who simply 'ducks and covers' WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.

2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.

3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.

4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on. The back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.

5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.

6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!

7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different 'moment of frequency' (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.

8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.

9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.

10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.


Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared! 'We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly' In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did 'duck and cover,' and ten mannequins I used in my 'triangle of life' survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results.

The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions , relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover. There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the 'triangle of life.' This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe , and it was seen in the USA, Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.

Funny Asian Commercial #3

Shizuoka Broadcasting

Funny Asian Commercial #2

Funny China's Mentos ad

Funny Asian Commercial #1

This is a Rejoice Hong Kong kewl ad.. Her hair was too smooth..

Beneath the Drain

Beneath Still Waters - Now Showing

This movie being eligible for half of a star given. Bad beginning, bad in the mid story line and the ending sucked. The creatures, graphic effects, and the whole story does not make sense. The romance was unromantic, you name it.

So much for a waste of time horror movie!

An Excerpt of Top News Read Today...

BUKIT MERTAJAM: The three men came well prepared with a fishing net and rope to rob the bank in Jalan Anson.

But the bungling would-be robbers netted a cheque deposit machine instead of a cash dispensing machine. After they managed to pull the machine out and finding it was not an ATM, the men left it outside the bank. They had arrived at the bank in a lorry and a pick-up truck at 3am. First they threw the net over a machine they thought was a cash dispensing ATM located on the first floor and tied one end of the rope to the net and the other end to the two vehicles.

They then pulled the machine off its floor mountings, through a glass wall and down a flight of stairs onto the ground floor.

The crashing sounds alerted the security guard, who shouted at the robbers.
Seberang Prai Tengah CID chief Deputy Supt Chor Ah Sing said the robbers fled before the police arrived.



What kind of unqualified robbers are they?!!

Article taken from TheStar newspaper

My Oh My Cambodia

Recently I have been to Cambodia for an assignment to complete a garment company audit for a week - hell of a short period of time. I stayed in Casa Hotel, where the second floor is a prostitution hub, 3rd floor a karaoke VIP lounge, a casino and a dance club on the ground floor. If any guys are going for a tour, this hotel is superb. With a USD6 massage parlour at a very nearby, this hotel does not suit for a person going there to complete an assignment in a short period of time.

Cambodia is by far an undeveloped city living on its own real flat land. By looking from a plane, this place is real good for mass development of paddy fields. Due to the flat land i guess they have no hydroelectric plants that generate power. They do not have resources for nuclear power as well, and therefore, we are living in deem lights at night. Natural resources like electricity, water and gasoline is expensive compared to the cost of living. People are poor and children begs for money and child labour is abundant. For me, I live like a "king" there with my couple of hundred US Dollars on hand for a week. I even had a driver too! Haha..


Cambodian bus

Their public transport is - motorcycle bus. Unlike Bangkok, you can hardly see a taxi on the road. Most of the transportation is motorcycle-d. In the morning and evening, due to lack of law and order, the roads are so chaotic. As I cannot even stand the traffic situation in Kuala Lumpur, I will not be able to live in Phnom Penh. Facing the transportation situation everyday, I will die of an heart attack. Cars, trucks, lorries and bunch of motorcycles are coming from all the directions, and they do not give a shit about the traffic lights and even basic roundabout laws. I thought of where were the policemen? Then I knew, most of them parked their bikes at tree-shaded areas to sleep and enjoying their lives!


Chaotic at roundabout and junctions

Not everything is bad though. Some of the sceneries in Phnom Penh are great! Discover Phnom Penh:


The infamous Mekong River - ancient trade route for the Cambodians


Phnom Penh One


Phnom Penh Two


Phnom Penh Three


Phnom Penh Four


Naga Casino

According to my client, there were no casinos built in Cambodia in the past years. The only casino available is a floating casino in a ship moving along the Mekong River. So the government then granted a gambling licence to the boat owner and they started a luxurius casino called Naga. It appeared a normal building from the outside and once entered, you can hear birds chirping with the typical chinese environment with trees, mini chinese bridges on top of a small pond and artificial chinese-flavoured buildings. Above all the gambling tables, there a ceiling painted in blue and white immitating the true blue sky, which was so real as being presented. I wished I could take pictures. Due to the support of my client and my colleague, and with the good environment, I have won some USDs from the casino too, Yeah! It is a must go for anyone in Phnom Penh.


Shavy and Grace - Colleague and client


Mr. Virak - HR and Admin Manager


"Ei.." - that's what he's being called as. Our driver


The Russian Market - local handcrafts and motorcycle spare parts market


The Central Market - Replicas for your thrift


Going up to a temple - They said to pray for the God, and you will eventually get a husband/wife


Pray here..


Yeah I'm short in front of a tall temple tower


After all the tiring walk, a massage do great effects


Chinese Massage method - a-hole-on-the-bed


Common scene - one family on a bike - Grandma behind, child(ren) squeezed in the middle and the the father drives the family


Common scene - taxi bike

Our client, a public listed company in Malaysia is the main producer for Nike and Puma garments. They have established two garment factories in Cambodia as the labour here is cheaper than Malaysia. Although I am a cheap labour in Kuala Lumpur, I know how these labourors here feel. Stock loss is not uncommon and it is easy to take few home everyday.


The old factory


The new factory in a secluded area


As the electricity cost is high, our client resolved to engage own electricity generator, powered by the rising price of resource - diesel. Is it really economic feasible to run a factory in Cambodia? Hidden costs were so disregarded


The stocks - raw materials


Stocks again - finished goods


Rat loitering around factory perimeter. I noticed that one of the Cambodian woman worker actually threw plastic materials hard towards the rat. I was shocked at the violence

Well er I'd say staying in Cambodia is fun in a short period of time. I cannot imagine living there for some years. Most of the things are cheaply sold as the standard of living is low. Handphones are cheaper by RM300 or more as compared to Kuala Lumpur, but I cannot guarantee its longitivity. Garments are produced domestically and imported from Thailand, and they are extremely cheap. There are no gogo bars and the living here is more or less boring as the entertainments are limited. Food stalls looked dirty and there are no McDonalds or KFC or Pizza Hut outlets. Lucky Burger is what they only have and it is a monopoly of fast food industry in Phnom Penh.



Phnom Penh International Airport

We departed home on 19th and I rushed back to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday.... Happy Happy Happy Happy birthday dear.


Happy birthday to you