Reflection: Pakistan Earthquake Preparedness Plan
The world is
divided into seismic zones based on the tectonic plates. Earthquakes are the
evident shaking of the surface of the Earth. If we look into a map of the
world’s earthquakes, it shows that most of them lie in narrow zones, often
around the edges of the continents, or in the middle of the oceans. A good
example of this is Pakistan or officially known as Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, a populous multiethnic country in South Asia. It is geologically
located in the Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone, which is roughly 200 km north of the
Himalaya Front and is defined by an exposed ophiolite chain along its southern
margin. Pakistan’s most remembered earthquake they’ve experienced is the
Kashmir Earthquake that happened last October 8, 2005 that has claimed over
730,000 lives, affected over 2.5 million people and damaging over millions of
infrastructures. It is imperative that buildings in Pakistan should withstand
the seismic hazard to which they are exposed. However, most of the building
structures of Pakistan are brick masonry with 62.38% of the people uses this
kind of structure which is not earthquake resistant. In line with that, they
created a Building Codes of Pakistan (BCP) to further improve the resistance of
the structures in Pakistan.
Aside from the
BCP, they implemented National Disaster Risks Authority. This organization
collaborated with several organizations such as UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis
Prevention and Recovery (BCPR). One of the programs they have launched is the
Earthquake Risk Reduction and Recovery Preparedness Programme to conduct
Earthquake Risk Assessment to raise awareness and part of their action plan is
to organize awareness in media, workshops/seminars, to apply the disaster
curricula in school education to give information to formal and non-formal
education system.
Block Masonry in Pakistan |
Damage brought by the Kashmir Earthquake |
Based on what
we have researched, they weren’t able to strictly maintain the ordinance and
importance of their Building Codes of Pakistan since the most of Pakistanis use
structures that aren’t earthquake resistant. Although the materials used for
those structures are accessible which is beneficial to the people, it isn’t
right not to follow the rules. But the good thing of the emergency plan of the
Pakistan is that they ensure the safety of their people by educating them of
what could happen during an earthquake.
Preparedness
for this major natural disaster is a necessity since this is something beyond
our control and what we could do is to lessen the casualties and/or the
negative consequences it brings. There are action plans that should be strictly
implemented most especially the seminars and drills since these are the basics
to know what the people of Pakistan must do when earthquakes happen or what
they must prepare before this natural disaster strike.
Just like
Pakistan, Philippines also have its own organization that gives information
about earthquakes, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
(NDRRMC) for Philippines and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for
Pakistan. These organizations give out seminars and lessons on what their
citizens must do whenever there is an earthquake. The difference is that the
Philippines has more detailed emergency plan because in their emergency, it was
stated on what equipment they should prepare before the earthquake happens and
the ‘duck, cover and hold.’ Another difference between them is their building
structure. As mentioned earlier, most people in Pakistan uses the brick
masonry, where this kind of structure is not stable and lacks the ductility
that buildings should have in order to withstand earthquakes or in simple
terms, they cannot flex without breaking. Most of the building structures in
Philippines uses RC building, this type of building consists of a frame or
skeleton of concrete. Horizontal members of this frame are called
beams, and vertical members are called columns. Of these, the column is the
most important, as it is the primary load-carrying element of the building. If
you damage a beam or slab in a building, this will affect only one floor, but
damage to a column could bring down the entire building.
Pakistan’s
emergency plan is much more centered around providing aid and risk assessment,
this is due to their country not being an archipelago unlike the Philippines.
The Philippines Emergency Plan and Earthquake Preparedness is much more
centered around the damage reduction and reducing the loss of life in affected
in areas. Philippines geology and being an archipelago makes it difficult to
provide relief and help thus affected areas have to rely on the local
government not on the national government.
Due to
Pakistan’s location, it is very prone to earthquakes and it’s no doubt that
their government has prepared precautions and emergency plans to prevent
themselves from being crushed from nature’s wrath. Overall, Pakistan is not
totally ready for earthquakes. With their poor building structure and lack of
emergency plan, although it is an advantage for them that they are not an
archipelago not unlike the Philippines. Pakistan is likely to suffer great
effects when there is an earthquake. However, this is not guaranteed to
actually happen since it depends on the magnitude and the intensity of the
earthquake that is to happen. Improvement and further development of the
country’s safety is never too late. It is still early to make changes. Lack of
preparation and knowledge can cause chaos than to be ignorant, it is rather
better to be prepared and safe than to be not because a person who is not ready
at all times or are ignorant to what is happening to the country is more likely
to experience negative effect.
Reference
Narula, D. (2016, March 26). Top
10 Countries that are most prone to Earthquakes. Retrieved fromhttps://listsurge.com/top-10-countries-prone-earthquakes/
Skymet Weather Team (2018,
January 30). 10 Earthquake Prone Countrues in the World. Retrieved July 30,
2019, from https://www.skymetweather.com/content/earth-and-nature-prone-countries-in-the-world/
Wikipedia (n.d.) Pakistan.
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan
Mishra, G. (2019). Performance of
Various Types of Buildings during Earthquake . Retrieved fromhttps://theconstructor.org/earthquake/performance-buildings-types-earthquake/2224/
Concrete Show (2017, March 20).
Reinforced concrete structures are much safer in earthquake zones. Retrieved
from
httos://www.concreteshowindia.com/blog/reinforced-concrete-structures-are-much-safer-in-earthquake-zones/
Earthquake Rusk Reduction And
Preparedness Programme (n.d.) Earthquake Risk Management Action Plan fo
Muzaffarabad Programme.
Khan, F. A. (2006, July). The
Response to the Earthquake in Pakistan. Retrieved fromhttps://odihpn.org/magazine/the-response-to-the-earthquake-in-pakistan/
Molnar, P. (n.d.) Major Mountain
Belts of the World. Retrieved fromhttps://www.britannica.com/science/mountain-landform/Major-mountain-belts-of-the-world
Underatand Building Construction
(n.d.) Concrete Frame Structures. Retrieved fromwww.understandcinstruction.com/concrete-frame-stryctures.html
Engr. Francisco Jr., R. (n.d.)
Overview of Earthquake Preparedness.
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