How can a country prepare for an earthquake

How much mitigation is enough? More mitigation reduces future losses but costs more now; resources used for mitigation are not available for other purposes. Money spent making existing schools earthquake resistant cannot be used to build schools or hire teachers for communities that have none [ Kenny, ].

Ideally, if the hazard were well understood, economic models could be used to develop mitigation strategies. The total cost of natural disasters to society is the sum of the expected loss in future disasters and the cost of mitigation. This total depends on the amount of mitigation, shown schematically by the U-shaped curve in Figure 2. If we undertake no mitigation, we have no mitigation costs left side of the curve but expect high losses, so it makes sense to invest more in mitigation.

Increased mitigation should decrease losses, so the curve goes down. Eventually, however, the cost of more mitigation exceeds the reduced losses, and the curve rises again. These additional resources would be better invested otherwise. The optimum mitigation is the sweet spot at the bottom of the curve.

Uncertainties in our ability to assess hazards and resulting losses limit our ability to determine an optimal strategy. Moreover, given limited resources, a community is likely to spend less than the optimum anyway.

Fortunately, spending less is better than doing nothing Figure 2 , and we can still suggest strategies that make sense given the high uncertainty and limited resources. Public education and understanding is needed to raise support for any level of investment. Recent nearby earthquakes, like the Sumatra, Gorkha, and Manipur earthquakes, which caused shaking and damage in Bangladesh, have raised earthquake awareness in the country. The scientific community is providing better understanding and monitoring of tectonics and earthquake processes in and around Bangladesh.

These developments offer Bangladesh the opportunity to increase earthquake preparedness and reduce earthquake risk [ Akhter, ]. As the population shifts from rural to urban, the extensive construction that follows provides an opportunity for earthquake risk reduction.

This opportunity stems from one key idea: A crucial step to mitigating earthquake risk in Bangladesh is enforcing the building code. Over time, natural turnover of buildings will make communities more resilient. Thus, an approach to reducing risk is to plan the desired fraction of safer buildings over time and to incentivize new safer construction over modifying unsafe existing buildings.

For example, the Bangladeshi government has decided to retrofit some fire stations. Outside of critical infrastructure, the ideal case is when tenants would pay more for ensuring the safety of their buildings.

Erdik and Durukal [] report on similar issues faced in Istanbul, a comparable setting. Hence, a major retrofitting program would require large investment of public funds, which is unrealistic given other needs. Recommendations by World Bank and Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative [] favor raising public earthquake awareness; building competency for architects, engineers, planners, and construction professionals; improving emergency response; and planning land use in a risk-sensitive manner.

Ongoing programs, such as the annual U. Robust risk management is practical, even for developing nations. It involves recognizing uncertainties and developing policies that should give a reasonable outcome for a range of the possible hazard and loss scenarios. It requires accepting the need for humility in the face of the complexities and capriciousness of nature while making realistic policies that the public accepts.

Although long-term investments in risk reduction compete with immediate needs, they will pay back handsomely should a major earthquake strike.

We thank the editors and reviewers for helping to improve this paper. LDEO contribution number Akhter, S. Islam, pp. Arikan, M.

Sucuoglu, and G. Macit , Economic assessment of the seismic retrofitting of low-cost apartment buildings, J. Earthquake Eng. Betka, P. Cummins, P. Debbarma, J. Asian Earth Sci. Erdik, M. Durukal , Earthquake risk and its mitigation in Istanbul, Nat.

Gahalaut, V. Goldfinger, C. Kenny, C. The costs, benefits and institutions of disaster risk reduction in developing countries, World Bank Policy Res. McMonies, W. Real Estate Q. Rittel, H. Webber , Dilemmas in a general theory of planning, Policy Sci. Schulze, W. However, it is very difficult to predict when they will happen. Even looking at the timescale between earthquakes doesn't seem to work. Protection involves constructing buildings so that they are safe to live in and will not collapse.

Some examples of building improvements are:. You can prepare, survive and recover from an earthquake by following the Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety. Prepare for an earthquake by securing your space, organizing needed supplies and minimizing your financial hardship with home earthquake insurance. Survive when the earth shakes by performing Drop , Cover, and Hold On. What would it be like to be in your home for days without water, electricity and phone service?

After the Loma Prieta earthquake, 16, housing units were left uninhabitable and people were displaced without the simple necessities. Visit our How to Make an Earthquake Emergency Kit blog for basic and detailed lists of earthquake preparation supplies. Decrease your risk of damage and injury from an earthquake by identifying possible home hazards. Complete your earthquake plan by identifying and securing the following hazards:. Last but not least, protect the investment in your home with CEA earthquake home insurance.

Earthquake insurance will provide your with the peace of mind, when, not if, the big one hits. Choose from our affordable and flexible policies today. The violent shaking from earthquakes can rupture the earth, trigger landslides and turn the surface of the earth to liquid. Your home also may be vulnerable to serious structural damage if it was built before