It is really something to think about regarding the sudden, brief, but considerably heavy jolt that rocked Anguilla at midday on Monday, this week, when an earthquake of a 4.5 magnitude frightened a number of our people. Thankfully, no damage, minor or serious, was reported. Just imagine what the situation was like in Indonesia when an awful trail of death and destruction was left there in the wake of the recent earthquake.

It is a credit to the Department of Disaster Management in Anguilla that it wasted no time in providing information about the strength and location of the earthquake and inquired whether there was any damage on the island. Clearly, it was prepared to render any service it could if there was a reason for action. For many years disaster preparedness had been focused solely on hurricane activity with a great measure of success in creating awareness among the population and providing instructions about what should be done in the event of a strike on the island.

The fact that earthquakes are unpredictable, and pose considerable danger at the wink of an eye, makes disaster preparedness in this case a most complex and difficult undertaking. To a great extent, then, much of the preparations will be required to be made in the aftermath and this is a matter on which the Department of Disaster Management has to concentrate its work.

There have been various exercises to mitigate the effects of a hurricane on Anguilla and there have also been drills relating to ferryboat disasters. There should now be some thought about safety and rescue measures to put into effect in the event of a destructive earthquake. Just how this will work, and the scope involved, is a matter for the disaster management personnel in Anguilla to work out in cooperation with available disaster organisations and consultants.

Earthquake preparedness is also a matter for the Anguilla Building Board, engineers and contractors alike regarding design plans and structures to withstand such national disasters as much as possible. Admittedly the force of nature is largely beyond our comprehension, but it is necessary to try at least to put in some safeguards against earthquakes in the way and style we build. Concrete structures, although strongly built, may crumble easily at times at the onset of an earthquake, while wooden buildings are not so vulnerable.

Whatever steps we eventually decide to take in Anguilla to mitigate earthquake disasters, must be viewed in the context that such national calamities are sudden and deadly and occur at the wink of an eye.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News