Earthquake Response vs. Climate Change Risk Management

Introduction

Managing the problems related to global warming is quite different from responding to a damaging earthquake, albeit both strategies require careful planning and coordination. This paper examines the contrasts between these two modes of management and response, and offers suggestions from the literature on pre-planning for both eventualities.

Managing Strategies for Serious Earthquakes

To say that a major earthquake striking an urban area is an acute crisis understates the problem, especially when an enormous amount of damage has been done. In Japan, one year after the calamity of a 9.0 earthquake and a devastating tsunami, some 300,000 people remained homeless and were living in temporary shelters. No amount of earthquake planning could have prepared Japanese officials for a disaster of this magnitude. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reports that some 50,000 prefabricated homes were built by the Japanese government, but "reconstruction of permanent houses has barely begun."

In addition to people living in temporary shelters, many were still occupying the second stories of their partially damaged homes, and a year after the disaster many communities were struggling to build on land well above sea level, since people were understandably afraid that another tsunami would come. In some communities there was "fierce opposition to government proposals to merge some communities," the Red Cross explains. Small fishing villages on a peninsula east of Ishinomaki — where the tsunami first struck, about half an hour after the 9.0 earthquake — were "now in ruins, but the local fishermen whose livelihoods depend on the area are adamant that they should be rebuilt as they were." However, the money required to rebuild those communities exactly as they were would not be available, so compromises would be necessary all around. Meanwhile, the memories of the tsunami continued to haunt many survivors, and the Red Cross noted that during the one-year anniversary in March 2012, a "constant stream of programs on Japanese TV looking back at the tsunami" brought back "painful memories and increasing stress levels amongst survivors." Clearly, this was a disaster of such enormous magnitude that no amount of strategic planning could have fully prepared citizens or government officials.

An article in Issues in Science and Technology (Beatley et al., 1993), written many years before the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, offers information that remains useful to planners. When relating to the United States and earthquake threats, the authors point out that "all or parts of 39 states — populated by more than 70 million people — have been classified as having major or moderate seismic risk" (Beatley, p. 82). The article also notes that it does not necessarily take a temblor high on the Richter scale to cause serious damage. In 1983, a 6.7 magnitude quake "destroyed virtually the entire downtown of Coalinga, California" (Beatley, p. 83). The key factor was that those buildings were "older unreinforced masonry (URM) structures." Subsequent to that event, state seismic structural regulations — tougher building codes — were enforced in many places throughout California, Beatley explains (p. 84). Stronger building codes are clearly the appropriate legislative and planning response to the threat of future earthquakes.

In Palo Alto, California, a "Seismic Hazard Information Ordinance" was adopted based on "incentives," Beatley writes (p. 86). Owners of seismically "vulnerable structures" are required to "perform structural analyses and to indicate by a deadline what improvements, if any, they plan to undertake." Building owners are not mandated to retrofit their buildings; however, in return for doing so, they are offered "an increase in a structure's allowable square footage," along with other bonuses and benefits (Beatley, p. 86).

When a massive earthquake strikes and communities are hit hard, there is no time to formulate specific strategic plans on the spot. Those plans must already be in place so that when the tragedy occurs, preparedness mechanisms immediately engage.

In China, the Wenchuan earthquake of 2008 — an 8.0 on the Richter scale — caused nearly 70,000 deaths, 374,176 injuries, and left 18,377 people missing (Yang et al., 2010, p. 217). An article in the International Nursing Review reflects the incredible task that Chinese nurses faced as they arrived at scenes of devastation. On May 12, 2008, the earthquake struck, ten provinces were affected, 6.5 million houses were destroyed, and 15 million people were "evacuated from their homes" (Yang, p. 218). Medical rescue teams were mainly composed of doctors and nurses, while support personnel were sent into the hardest-hit areas to prevent epidemics. Although thousands of nurses sent into disaster areas "were highly regarded as experts in trauma, wound care and infection control," they "still considered their practice in the field of disaster to be beyond the scope of their normal nursing practice" (Yang, p. 218). The fieldwork represented "an enormous challenge to their earlier perception" of what a large-scale disaster response would demand (Yang, p. 218).

Emergency Response Lessons from Wenchuan and Nias

The main challenge for the nurses was "an unfamiliar working environment, with scarce supplies" — due to transport problems caused by the quake, it was difficult to get supplies into the most seriously affected areas. Many rescue workers also suffered from fever and diarrhea, conditions that nurses had to manage alongside caring for those directly injured. Furthermore, nurses had to train rescue workers to avoid sources of serious infection, "such as corpses," and to avoid "consuming contaminated food and water" (Yang, p. 220).

Within this context, strategic planning lessons emerge for regions where future earthquakes are anticipated. In a country like China — prone to both natural and man-made disasters — "every nurse should have basic knowledge of and skills in disaster relief"; accordingly, nursing curricula should incorporate "systematic educational" programs preparing nurses for "perioperative care, emergency care, community care and public health" (Yang, p. 222).

In another article reflecting on the Wenchuan earthquake, published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, the authors interviewed government officials in the hardest-hit areas. Those officials reported the critical roles played not only by nurses, doctors, and rescue workers, but by "the whole of society" (You et al., 2009, p. 384). The critical roles included: (a) organizing evacuation; (b) bringing health workers to treat injured people; (c) "comforting the general public"; (d) organizing and pooling living materials such as food, clothing, and blankets; (e) "dispatching personnel to investigate the affected areas"; (f) bringing in workers to repair roads and restore water, electricity, and gas; and (g) "endeavoring to obtain external assistance" (You, p. 384).

Plans for emergency medical assistance had been established prior to the disaster, but because hospitals in the region were in many cases destroyed, the civil affairs bureau transferred badly injured citizens to hospitals outside the area. This illustrates the fact that even the best-laid plans cannot always be counted upon when a disaster of this magnitude strikes. Pre-planning helped provide survivors with food and money; the "Emergent Rescue and Treatment Period" plan provided "300 yuan (27 euros) and 15 kg of rice" to each person per month in the affected areas (You, p. 387). For those planning to rebuild their houses, the government provided a subsidy of 20,000 yuan (approximately 1,800 euros) per household. These kinds of plans can be formulated well before an earthquake disaster. However, "people should be encouraged to be self-reliant in emergency situations," You explains (p. 392), while also recognizing that "multi-sectoral cooperation and coordination is critical."

The devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004 that struck Thailand and other nations in the region was followed on March 28, 2005 by an 8.7 earthquake near the island nation of Nias, approximately 130 km west of Sumatra. An article in the journal Emergency Medicine Australasia (Jackson et al., 2006, p. 199) explains how emergency medical aid was delivered to outlying villages on the islands of Nias. Australian assistance included engineers and a medical team. Although there had not been extensive emergency planning for such a disaster — approximately 30% of all structures were "damaged or destroyed," with no electricity and water that was "often contaminated or destroyed" — local organizations like Surfaid provided important strategic support. Surfaid, part of the broader surfing community, had many contacts with local people because the organization had been "regularly performing primary care clinics in the Nias area" (Jackson, p. 200). Surfaid deployed five surf charter boats used by emergency personnel to supply "essential aid such as food, oil, and shelter" to those seriously affected.

The fact that Surfaid was so closely integrated with the local population — and that it immediately became an effective source of support — is a valuable reminder for future disaster-relief planning. The Red Cross is not always going to be available in emergencies, and in some remote areas those injured and left without water or food must struggle to survive while awaiting assistance. Governments should therefore pre-plan for disasters by training non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Surfaid to deploy their resources in response to emergency needs.

On the subject of earthquakes and island nations, an article in the journal Disasters explains how a "multidisciplinary and multidimensional methodological approach to disaster analysis and safety policymaking" can be effective for advanced planning (Delladetsima et al., 2006, p. 469). The specific islands examined are three in the Aegean Archipelago — Chios, Kos, and Nissyros. The authors offer two major sets of parameters for earthquake disaster planning in island environments: (a) the geographical uniqueness of the island, its "socio-economic characteristics as shaped by the conditions of remoteness, isolation and self-sufficiency"; and (b) the "exceedingly unpredictable and all-encompassing hazard in the Aegean Sea," linked to additional hazards including "landslides, submarine landslides, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis" (Delladetsima, p. 470). Planning in this framework addresses an island's vulnerability and "coping capacity factors." Two key aspects of planning for any island nation vulnerable to earthquakes are: (1) a "closed system analysis" — what resources are available if emergency help must be provided from within the island itself; and (2) an "open system" — relating to the "entry and exit" points through which vulnerable components can be reached by outside sources (Delladetsima, p. 478).

Conclusion

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