In the event of an earthquake and you're in a 20 storey building, Is your chance of survival higher at a the higher floors or lower floors.

Naturally the lower you are the more likely you are going to be crushed. In the 1989 San Francisco quake, many houses “pancaked” into the street. Meaning the top floor crushed the lower floor as the whole building fell into the street.

With 20 floors, I think it just all comes down to dumb luck. It doesn’t hurt to try and position yourself in something structurally sound, like a bathtub or doorway in the hopes that when everything comes toppling down, you’ll have some sort or frame around you to prevent you from being crushed.

During the Northridge earthquake, buildings pancaked; the bottom floor flattened, and the top floors just sat down on the bottom one. There are different types of earthquakes, and the impact depends on the topography and geology of the area. I recently read that the best way to survive a massive earthquake, other than being outside, away from buildings and powerlines, is to position oneself beside a piece of furniture that will give, but will not smash to pieces, like a bed. This will create a space where you will be able to breath, and perhaps move around a bit. This will increase the chances of survival.

I was born and raised, and still ive in earthquake country. They have always told us to stand in door frames, but according to the article I just read, this is a horribel place to be.

Sorry no link, just my memory.

This eye-opening article from an earthquake rescue expert was really helpful to me, telling me stuff I never knew. Here is an excerpt:

“Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the ‘triangle of life’. The larger the object, the stronger, and the less it will compact.

The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured.”

@marina This must be the article I was refering to. I’m always so lazy to find a link, and this is why I always appreciate your responses.

Do all buildings come down like when they are demolished by explosives? Aren’t there instances when a whole building falls to its side like a brick? I live in an earthquake free country but lately, the frequency of earthquakes from neighboring countries have increased and tremors can be felt where I live. It’s terrifying nonetheless. Feels like it’s getting closer and closer. Our buildings are not made to withstand earthquakes.

It depends what the building is made of. Best in an earthquake is wood. In brick buildings, the bricks literally shake apart. The most dangerous is concrete slab.

awesome question. i live by st. louis, so people like to freak out about this huge earthquake that we’re supposed to be getting along the new madrid fault, so i feel a little safer now at least.. haha.

@Tinyfaery and Marina, be careful of Doug Copp’s claims (i.e. Marina’s link) as they are challenged extensively. For example, Snopes does an expose on his claims, the US Geologic Survey disputes the triangle of life theory (albeit by linking to the American Red Cross and this Earthquake website also chime in. The major flaw in Mr. Copp’s process is that he is applying his ideas globally, when buildings in the US are constructed entirely differently from say, China or Turkey or Mexico.

As many times as I drove by the 880 after the earthquake, I saw the validity of what he was saying demonstrated there, and that was the U.S.

I will spend some additional time researching this, but what he is saying makes some sense to me as an option when you can’t get out of a building in time.

Marina, The issue isn’t weather you can find these “triangles” post hoc, but rather, whether you can predict a priori where they will form. Frankly, there were not many building collapses in the San Francisco Earthquake of 1989. In fact, this report illustrates that many people were injured or killed from falling debris (as in an exterior wall collapsing). It also notes that “Interstate 280 rocked so viciously during the earthquake that sections of the freeway slammed into one another, cracking off pieces.” If you followed Doug Copp’s advice and got out of your car, you might have been shredded by the highway itself. There are many more websites that both challenge his claims of being a rescue hero and also his engineering claims about falling buildings. Here is another report from California Engineers, and a full list of information from the California Earthquake Program.

@shi OK, I know this is a question with no answer, but why do people pretend to expertise they don’t have?

@Shilolo and Marina: I could say a lot more but don’t have the time right now. One important thing. The building that didn’t make it in ‘89 in SF were, for the most part, built on the fill made after clearing the 1906 earthquake and fire. The epicenter was much closer to San Jose and there was very little damage in the area due to the strict building codes enforced after the 1906 quake and throughout the years. More later if I have time, but Shilolo is on the right track.

@Marina. Notoriety? Money? Money and notoriety? Notoriety and money? Delusions of grandeur when real life is mundane?

I think I’ll just do what I’ve always done during an earthquake: grab on to something heavy and readily available (or stay in my bed), hope its not the “big one”, and wait until I can get the hell out of my house. May I take this moment to recommend that everyone put together an emergency kit in case of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake. See here!

Stay in bed is not necessarily the best thing. Depends on where you are, what is above you and if what is above you is structurally sound. During the 1906 earthquake, my Great Aunt was in a dorm room (with multiple beds) in San Jose. She had been gone through the drill with her father all her life and he always repeated it on the train ride up from LA. She was in bed when it hit, the oldest girl in the dorm. As it started she went into action, ran to the doorway and saw the youngest child, in bed, in a panic. She grabbed her, drug her to the door and as soon as she got her to the doorway, a beam from the ceiling fell across the bed. Granted this was 1906, and not the building codes of today, but when Loma Prieta hit, in 1989, I was upstairs (in San Jose) and rode it out in the door jam. I watched a TV crash to the floor, nearly hitting the bed. I’ll take my chances on the door jamb or under a sturdy table any day.

Well, I live in a building constructed in the last 20 years, in Los Angeles CA. I’m fairly positive and I think shilolo will back me on this that my building will not fall down. I’ve withstood many an earthquake in my bed, including the 1987 Whittier quake, and the 1994 Northridge quake. Despite all the information given here, I’ve determined my current course of action is indeed the best.

Again, tiny, depends on the intensity, type, and where you are relative to the epicenter. No building is absolutely earthquake proof, they are built to be earthquake resistant. If you’re right over a fault line, it can suck whatever is above it into it. I“m not saying that staying put isn’t the best course of action, it just isn’t foolproof. I’m pretty close to a major fault and I’ve ridden out a most, but if the lamps start moving (I have seismic tie-downs, a tie roof, a frame and stucco house) but with Loma Prieta when things started falling, I moved. I watch the hanging lamps. If they start moving, I do and hang on tight.

When Loma Prieta hit, I was 8 miles northeast of it. I agree with what Shilolo has pointed out and I think you have to protect yourself according to what is happening at the time. I’m not running around trying to find magic triangles, just support and protect myself in what is appropriate for the situation at hand.

@seesul Nuf Said.