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
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.
Engr. Francisco Jr., R. (n.d.) Overview of Earthquake Preparedness.
