Ecuador's Earthquake Preparedness Plan
Ecuador is a country
located in the northwest part of South America and is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The country sits on the edge of the
South American Plate, beside the Nazca Plate, which results in strong
earthquakes in the country. Both plates converge with each other, resulting in the subduction of the Nazca Plate with the South American Plate. Ecuador’s
infrastructures are usually built on soft soil, specifically alluvium. Alluvium
soils are loose and incompact accumulations of sands, silts, clays, or gravels
deposited in rivers. Many cities in Ecuador are built on soft soils because
these are flat and easy to build. The country also suffers from soil
liquefaction, where the soil turns into liquid in response to an earthquake’s
sudden movement. With the type of soil Ecuador is built on, it would experience
stronger shaking and more damage. The materials used in Ecuador’s
infrastructures also have been of poor quality. They are built with unstable
materials such as masonry infill walls and flexible reinforced concrete. With
more and more people living in slums, it could be a higher risk since people do
not have enough money to afford durable and long-lasting materials for their
houses. But after the 7.8 Earthquake in Ecuador in 2016, people were
appreciating bamboo as it was able to withstand earthquakes and they have
realized it after they have seen houses built on bamboo unaffected in the
earthquake. They would put a concrete foundation and put the bamboo as its
pillars. They also have mixed modern construction materials to assure its
durability. Ecuador also established the Earthquake Safety Advisory Board,
which is used to monitor and update earthquake risks in the country. The Quito
School Earthquake Safety Project was also created to evaluate the building of
the schools if it is safe or not. This effects to the improvement of the
building so that there will be lesser risk and they would be able to impose
safety school measures. In earthquake preparedness, improvement must be
made. Some provinces in Ecuador are accustomed to small tremors and the people
were not prepared on what to do during an earthquake. Due to these, when
powerful earthquakes would strike, this would send people in immediate panic,
for they did not know how to deal with it. With weak construction and no
awareness, it will produce vast amounts of damage in infrastructures and
casualties. In a 2010 poll by El Universo newspaper, 85% of respondents in the
cities of Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador’s main cities stated they were
uninformed about instructions on what to do during emergencies, and 40% were
completely unaware of what to do during earthquakes. Ecuador’s Red Cross also helped raise awareness about these, but it was not enough because they did not have enough capacity to train people.
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A house in Ecuador with bamboo as
its foundation
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A building toppled down after the 2016 Ecuador earthquake
With this
information, Ecuador is alarmingly unprepared for another massive earthquake
–from the building structure to the awareness of the citizens. They often do
drills every year, but they fail to be maintained properly. As stated, the
buildings are mostly made of unsafe materials that can be destroyed quickly.
But the 2016 earthquake, has been an eye-opener to the citizens and
government of Ecuador. Even though these problems are yet to be fixed,
the citizens of Ecuador have also used their innovativeness to use bamboo as
the foundation of their buildings and it is fascinating that despite the impacts
and effects of the 2016 earthquake, their resourcefulness was greatly used so
that certain effects and destruction would not happen again.
In comparison, the
Philippines established the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council
to ensure the protection of the people during an earthquake or calamity. They
are also responsible for holding earthquake drills regularly in schools
and buildings four times per year to boost preparedness in people. The
government also implemented strong building codes that fit the standard to
withstand an 8.4 earthquake. In Ecuador, they have the National
Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR) to also ensure and monitor the citizen's
safety. They also have emergency services to respond like the Ecuadorian Red
Cross and ECU 911. They also often hold earthquake drills. The raising of
awareness in the country is poorly implemented, therefore making the citizens
unprepared during an earthquake. However, they have emergency services to respond
immediately to the victims to rescue quickly. As stated earlier, they have
established the Earthquake Safety Advisory Board to ensure the safety of the
people and buildings. In 2016, Ecuador also included bamboo in its
National Construction Code, making it the standard when people need to
construct buildings.
To conclude, Ecuador
is somehow unprepared for these calamities due to unawareness of what to do
during earthquakes. The Ecuadorian government should have clearer plans to
raise awareness properly so that people would not panic. Ecuador is susceptible
to earthquakes and it would need more preparation for the people and proper
check-ups of the buildings. These major earthquakes are signs that the
government and the people should work together so that they can be able to
reduce casualties. Earthquake preparedness is necessary because if people do
not know any of these, it will be a great risk. If Ecuador would improve in
terms of earthquake preparedness and building stability, then it would be a
great benefit when another massive earthquake strikes anytime soon.
References
Caselli, I. (2010, April 10). Retrieved
July 31, 2019, from
Gatóo, A., Sharma, B., Bock, M., &
Ramage, M. (2014). Sustainable structures: Bamboo standards and building codes.
GeoHazards International. (n.d.).
Geohazard: The Quito School Earthquake Safety Proje. Retrieved from
GeoHazards International. (n.d.).
Geohazard: Quito Earthquake Risk Management. Retrieved from
Gibson, G. (2016, April 26). In
Ecuador, a resort town torn apart by the earthquake. Retrieved from
Gregorio, X. (2019, April 24). PH
buildings should withstand magnitude 8.4 quake – expert. Retrieved from
Hosey, L. (2016, June 07). The Ecuador
Exchange: A Step Toward Earthquake-Resistant Cities. Retrieved from
Jacobson, D. (2017, May 02). Ecuador,
Peru, and Colombia faults hint where large earthquakes could strike. Retrieved
from
Lotto, G. (2017, May 02). Ecuador
earthquakes: What happened and what's next? Retrieved from
Manta, E. L. (2019, April 16). Bamboo
becomes go-to material for earthquake-proof buildings in Ecuador. Retrieved
from
Mills, B. (2018, January 04). Soils of
Ecuador: Characteristics, Types, Uses. Retrieved from
Rappler.com. (2019, February 20).
NDRRMC to hold 1st nationwide earthquake drill for 2019. Retrieved from
http://www.un-spider.org. (2019).
Ecuadorian Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR). Retrieved from
http://www.un-spider.org/links-and-resources/institutions/ecuadoran-secretariat-risk-management-sngr
