Earthquake Preparedness

The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed nine people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work.

Everyone is concerned about the safety of their lives, the Delhi High Court Thursday observed while hearing a plea related to earthquake preparedness in the national capital.

Following the mild tremors of earthquakes that have been felt in parts of Karnataka's Kalaburagi in the past four days, state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai chaired a meeting with officials to discuss the matter.

There is no need to panic due to the recent earthquakes in Delhi-NCR but it is vital to undertake preparedness and take precautionary measures, Director of the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) BK Bansal has said.

As Indonesia struggles with the aftermath of the devastating quake, the spotlight has again been shone on the apparent lack of preparedeness in a sprawling archipelago that suffers regular tremors, lying on the seismically active so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.

Who controls the municipal corporations in the national capital, the Centre or the state government, the Delhi High Court today asked while dealing with a matter on preparedness of authorities to deal with natural disasters, especially earthquakes.

Mexico City marked the 30th anniversary of a killer earthquake Saturday with a massive preparedness drill that saw six million residents participate.

China today held its biggest-ever mock drill in the northern Hebei Province with relief and rescue workers simulating a 6.6-magnitude earthquake to check their preparedness following Nepal's devastating temblor.

After the devastating earthquake in Nepal, Delhi government today decided to conduct mock drills to check preparedness of the government agencies to deal with disasters and also chalked out a disaster management plan having broad guidelines.

All Metro trains came to a grinding halt at 11 am today and commuters were given different reasons for it - bomb blast, earthquake and terrorist strike, but everything was normal in less than an hour.

A mock drill will be conducted in Gurgaon on July 20 by the Haryana state and district administration in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to test the level of preparedness for an earthquake, an official said on Saturday.

Professor Sudhir K. Jain is an expert in earthquake engineering, and member of several global groups devoted to reducing fatalities during earthquakes. His mantra, and that of many other earthquake experts, is simple: earthquakes alone don't kill people, poor engineering does.

The ramshackle neighbourhoods of northeast Delhi are home to 2.2 million people packed along narrow alleys. Buildings are made from a single layer of brick. Extra floors are added to dilapidated buildings not meant to handle their weight. Tangles of electrical cables hang precariously everywhere.

At 11.30 this morning, a siren sounded in several parts of Delhi. It announced a massive emergency drill to evaluate the city's preparedness for an intensive earthquake. On trial were government agencies, emergency forces, hospitals, and residents.

Delhi will witness one of the biggest coordinated mockdrills on Wednesday through which preparedness of various agencies will be checked by creating simulated situations across the city involving schools, colleges, metro network, malls, markets, hospitals and road transport.

The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed nine people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work.

Everyone is concerned about the safety of their lives, the Delhi High Court Thursday observed while hearing a plea related to earthquake preparedness in the national capital.

Following the mild tremors of earthquakes that have been felt in parts of Karnataka's Kalaburagi in the past four days, state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai chaired a meeting with officials to discuss the matter.

There is no need to panic due to the recent earthquakes in Delhi-NCR but it is vital to undertake preparedness and take precautionary measures, Director of the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) BK Bansal has said.

As Indonesia struggles with the aftermath of the devastating quake, the spotlight has again been shone on the apparent lack of preparedeness in a sprawling archipelago that suffers regular tremors, lying on the seismically active so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.

Who controls the municipal corporations in the national capital, the Centre or the state government, the Delhi High Court today asked while dealing with a matter on preparedness of authorities to deal with natural disasters, especially earthquakes.

Mexico City marked the 30th anniversary of a killer earthquake Saturday with a massive preparedness drill that saw six million residents participate.

China today held its biggest-ever mock drill in the northern Hebei Province with relief and rescue workers simulating a 6.6-magnitude earthquake to check their preparedness following Nepal's devastating temblor.

After the devastating earthquake in Nepal, Delhi government today decided to conduct mock drills to check preparedness of the government agencies to deal with disasters and also chalked out a disaster management plan having broad guidelines.

All Metro trains came to a grinding halt at 11 am today and commuters were given different reasons for it - bomb blast, earthquake and terrorist strike, but everything was normal in less than an hour.

A mock drill will be conducted in Gurgaon on July 20 by the Haryana state and district administration in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to test the level of preparedness for an earthquake, an official said on Saturday.

Professor Sudhir K. Jain is an expert in earthquake engineering, and member of several global groups devoted to reducing fatalities during earthquakes. His mantra, and that of many other earthquake experts, is simple: earthquakes alone don't kill people, poor engineering does.

The ramshackle neighbourhoods of northeast Delhi are home to 2.2 million people packed along narrow alleys. Buildings are made from a single layer of brick. Extra floors are added to dilapidated buildings not meant to handle their weight. Tangles of electrical cables hang precariously everywhere.

At 11.30 this morning, a siren sounded in several parts of Delhi. It announced a massive emergency drill to evaluate the city's preparedness for an intensive earthquake. On trial were government agencies, emergency forces, hospitals, and residents.

Delhi will witness one of the biggest coordinated mockdrills on Wednesday through which preparedness of various agencies will be checked by creating simulated situations across the city involving schools, colleges, metro network, malls, markets, hospitals and road transport.