Ecuador is a
country located in the northwest part of South America and is one of the
earthquake-prone countries in the world. The country sits on the edge of the
South American Plate, beside with the Nazca Plate, which results in strong earthquakes
in the country. Both plates converge with each other, resulting to the
subduction of the Nazca Plate with the South American Plate. Ecuador’s
infrastructures are usually built on soft soil, specifically alluvium. Alluvium soils are loose and incompact accumulation
of sands, silts, clays, or gravels deposited in rivers. Many cities in Ecuador
are built on soft soils because these are flat and easy to build. The country
also suffers from soil liquefaction, where the soil turns into liquid in
response to an earthquake’s sudden movement. With the type of soil Ecuador is
built on, it would experience stronger shaking and more damage. The materials
used in Ecuador’s infrastructures also have been of poor quality. They are
built with unstable materials such as masonry infill walls and flexible
reinforced concrete. With more and more people living in slums, it could be a
higher risk since people do not have enough money to afford durable and
long-lasting materials for their houses. But after the 7.8 Earthquake in
Ecuador in 2016, people were appreciating bamboo as it was able to withstand
earthquakes and they have realized it after they have seen houses built on
bamboo unaffected in the earthquake. They would put a concrete foundation and
put the bamboo as its pillars. They also have mixed modern construction
materials to assure its durability. Ecuador also established the Earthquake Safety
Advisory Board, which is used to monitor and update earthquake risks in the
country. The Quito School Earthquake Safety Project was also created to
evaluate the building of the schools if it is safe or not. This effects to the
improvement of the building so that there will be lesser risk and they would be
able to impose safety school measures. In
earthquake preparedness, improvement must be made. Some provinces in Ecuador
are accustomed to small tremors and the people were not prepared on what to do
during an earthquake. Due to these, when powerful earthquakes would strike,
this would send people in immediate panic, for they did not know how to deal
with it. With weak construction and no awareness, it will produce vast amounts
of damage in infrastructures and casualties. In a 2010 poll by El Universo
newspaper, 85% of respondents in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador’s
main cities stated they were uninformed about instructions on what to do during
emergencies, and 40% were completely unaware of what to do during earthquakes.
Ecuador’s Red Cross also had helped raise awareness about these, but it was not
enough because they do not have enough capacity to train people.
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| A house in Ecuador with a bamboo as its foundation |
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| A building toppled down after the 2016 Ecuador earthquake |
With this information, Ecuador is alarmingly unprepared for another massive earthquake –from the building structure to the awareness of the citizens. They often do drills every year, but it failed to be maintained properly. As stated, the buildings are mostly made of unsafe materials that can be destroyed quickly. But after the 2016 earthquake, it has been an eye-opener to the citizens and government of Ecuador. Even though with these problems yet to be fixed, the citizens of Ecuador have also used their innovativeness to use bamboo as the foundation of their buildings and it is fascinating that albeit the impacts and effects of the 2016 earthquake, their resourcefulness was greatly used so that certain effects and destruction would not happen again.
In comparison, the Philippines
established the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to ensure
the protection of the people during an earthquake or calamity. They are also
responsible for holding
earthquake drills regularly in schools and buildings four times per year to
boost preparedness in people. The government also implemented strong building
codes that fit the standard to withstand an 8.4 earthquake. In
Ecuador, they have the National Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR) to also ensure and monitor the citizen's safety. They also have emergency services to respond like the Ecuadorian Red Cross and ECU 911. They also do often hold earthquake drills. The raising of awareness in the
country is poorly implemented, therefore making the citizens unprepared during
an earthquake. But, they have emergency services to respond immediately to the
victims to rescue quickly. As stated earlier, they have established the
Earthquake Safety Advisory Board to ensure the safety of the people and
buildings. During 2016, Ecuador also has included bamboo on its National
Construction Code, making it the standard when people need to construct
buildings.
To
conclude, Ecuador is somehow unprepared to these calamities due to unawareness
of what to do during earthquakes. The Ecuadorian government should have clearer
plans to raise awareness properly so that people would not panic. Ecuador is
susceptible to earthquakes and it would need more preparation for the people
and proper check-up of the buildings. These major earthquakes are signs that
the government and the people should work together so that they can be able to
reduce casualties. Earthquake preparedness is necessary because if people do
not know any of these, it will be a great risk. If Ecuador would improve in
terms of earthquake preparedness and building stability, then it would be a
great benefit when another massive earthquake would strike anytime soon.
References
Caselli, I. (2010, April 10). Retrieved
July 31, 2019, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8583311.stm
Gatóo, A., Sharma, B., Bock, M., &
Ramage, M. (2014). Sustainable structures: Bamboo standards and building codes.
GeoHazards International. (n.d.).
Geohazard: The Quito School Earthquake Safety Proje. Retrieved from https://www.geohaz.org/the-quito-school-earthquake-safety-proje
GeoHazards International. (n.d.).
Geohazard: Quito Earthquake Risk Management. Retrieved from https://www.geohaz.org/quito-earthquake-risk-management
Gibson, G. (2016, April 26). In Ecuador,
a resort town torn apart by the earthquake. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/04/ecuador-resort-town-torn-earthquake-160426070349918.html
Gregorio, X. (2019, April 24). PH
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Hosey, L. (2016, June 07). The Ecuador
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Jacobson, D. (2017, May 02). Ecuador,
Peru, and Colombia faults hint where large earthquakes could strike. Retrieved
from http://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/ecuador-peru-and-colombia-faults-hint-where-large-earthquakes-could-strike-2128/
Lotto, G. (2017, May 02). Ecuador
earthquakes: What happened and what's next? Retrieved from http://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/ecuador-earthquakes-what-happened-and-what-is-next-986/
Manta, E. L. (2019, April 16). Bamboo
becomes go-to material for earthquake-proof buildings in Ecuador. Retrieved from
https://www.efe.com/efe/english/technology/bamboo-becomes-go-to-material-for-earthquake-proof-buildings-in-ecuador/50000267-3953733
Mills, B. (2018, January 04). Soils of
Ecuador: Characteristics, Types, Uses. Retrieved from https://www.lifepersona.com/soils-of-ecuador-characteristics-types-uses
Rappler.com. (2019, February 20). NDRRMC
to hold 1st nationwide earthquake drill for 2019. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/223955-1st-nationwide-simultaneous-earthquake-drill-february-21-2019
http://www.un-spider.org. (2019). Ecuadorian Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR). Retrieved from http://www.un-spider.org/links-and-resources/institutions/ecuadoran-secretariat-risk-management-sngr
