Case Studies

Learning from past, recording various disasters that have happened before and detailing their cause and effects on victims

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“Learn, Look, Ask, Try!”

IDEO method cards (via rongbuk)

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7/11 Mumbai serial blasts, India

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A teacher's trip to Haiti through the eyes of his students -- Curtis Donar and Faith Vasquez, two high school students in Mark Raines' Cinema classes at Canyon Crest Academy, created an 11-minute documentary entitled "Haitian Hope: Field Hospital" to tell the story of Raines' mission trip to earthquake-ravaged Haiti in the spring of 2010. Raines also provided the raw video to all 90 students in his classes to have them each create their own 3-5 minute documentaries about the trip. Some of the best of those videos are featured on this Vimeo site as well as the main documentary.

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Captain Barak Raz of the IDF (Israel Defence forces) Spokesperson's Unit describes the IDF's aid efforts in Haiti following the earthquake that hit the island republic last week.

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Probability of Shindo Lower 6 Tremors Within the Next 30 Years:

Anticipated damage is assessed based on the predicted seismic intensity figures for each area after an earthquake. These predictions not only assess primary damage caused directly by the tremors of the earthquake itself, such as earth liquefaction and landslides, ruptures in the ground surface, collapsing buildings, and human injuries and fatalities, but also secondary damage, including earthquake-induced fires and the impact on daily lives of interrupted electricity and water supplies, as well as tertiary damage caused by the crippling of urban functions and interruptions to economic activity.

Emergency Earthquake Early Alert:

Japan’s emergency earthquake early alert system has been running officially since 2007. There are two main kinds of seismic waves: P-waves (primary waves; 5–7 km/sec), which cause the initial minor tremors, and S-waves (secondary waves; 3–4 km/sec), which cause the bigger tremors known as major seismic motion. The emergency earthquake early alert system picks up P-waves close to the epicenter and automatically calculates the epicenter and scale of the earthquake, as well as the predicted seismic intensity in various locations. If the predicted maximum seismic intensity is Shindo 3 or more, or the predicted magnitude is 3.5 or more, the system automatically sends a signal to public facilities, factories, and transportation networks. At predicted seismic intensities at or above Shindo Lower 5, the system alerts households and other regular users. The purpose of the system is to give people time to take evasive action before the major seismic motion begins.

Some people have criticized the technical limitations of the emergency earthquake early alert system, claiming that the short interval between the P- and S-waves close to the epicenter makes it difficult for the system to provide a warning quickly enough for it to be effective. But there can often be as much as ten seconds or more between the warning and the onset of major seismic motion—enough time for people to take cover and protect their heads from falling objects.

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Sikkim earthquake: 18th september, 2011: 6.8 M

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Reverse 9-1-1 service

Reverse 911 is a public safety communications system. The Reverse 911 system's features make it an excellent tool for sharing information and alerting residents in the case of an emergency situation.

Some of the many uses of the system include:

Emergency Evacuations

Missing Person Alerts

Natural Disaster Alerts

Hazardous Material Leaks

Search and Rescue Operations

Crime Prevention

Wanted Person Alerts

Neighborhood Emergency Incidents

Special Community Notifications

Homeland Security

During the  2010 Boston water emergency, government agencies used the Reverse 911 system to notify a large number of Boston-area residents in particular neighborhoods to boil water before drinking. During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Seaside and Astoria, Oregon, residents were notified by Reverse 911 and sirens to evacuate low-lying areas.

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Our complex world is more disaster-prone than ever -- but there's plenty we can do about it. Self-reliant, community-minded individuals can help people get through a major event when all else fails. Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds tells us how.