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
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| Block Masonry in Pakistan |
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| 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 from https://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/
Mishra, G. (2019). Performance of Various Types of
Buildings during Earthquake . Retrieved from https://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 from https://odihpn.org/magazine/the-response-to-the-earthquake-in-pakistan/
Molnar, P. (n.d.) Major Mountain Belts of the
World. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/mountain-landform/Major-mountain-belts-of-the-world
Underatand Building Construction (n.d.) Concrete
Frame Structures. Retrieved from www.understandcinstruction.com/concrete-frame-stryctures.html
Engr. Francisco Jr., R. (n.d.) Overview of
Earthquake Preparedness.
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