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UNDERSTANDING EARTHQUAKES ANDDISASTERS:

MULTIMEDIA FOR PUBLIC AWARENESSAND EDUCATION

Andres Winston C. Oreta, D.Eng.Professor, De La Salle University Manila,

PhilippinesEmail : andyoreta@yahoo.com

An essential part of a disaster preparednessplan is Public Education and Training. Themain objective of this phase is the educationof those who may be threatened by a naturalhazard. UNESCO Director-General KoichiroMatsuura in 2005 stated that Anticipating,educating and informing are the keys toreducing the deadly effect of naturaldisasters. Unfortunately such activities havenot been given priority. Increasing theawareness of the public about naturalhazards and disasters is a vital element inpreparedness for saving lives and property.Public awareness campaigns are essential increating a culture of prevention in the public.

Professionals and educators, especiallythose involved in studies related to naturalhazards and disasters, can play a major rolein public awareness campaigns.

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS

Computers and multimedia equipment have become popular tools in public presentations.In most conferences or seminars, a multimedia projector has become a commonequipment. Recognizing this fact, the use of multimedia may be used for effective publicawareness and education. However, there is a lack of multimedia software or

Understanding Earthquakes & Disasters:

Photo-Video Presentations

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presentations that are readily available for public use. It is for this reason, that the authorpursued the creation of photo-video presentations to be used in schools and publiclectures. The photo-video presentations consists of photos or images integrated with textand music by a video editing software. The techniques and tools needed in producingpersonal multimedia presentations are discussed in one paper of the author and can befound in his website: http://mysite.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty/oretaa.

Understanding Earthquakes and Disasters: Photo-Video Presentations is a projectfunded by the DLSU-Manila University Research Coordination Office (URCO). It consistsof eight short presentations saved in a DVD (Figure 3) and the DVD can be played using aDVD player or a computer with Windows Media Player or similar software (e.g., PowerDVD). The titles and descriptions of the photo-video presentations are shown in theboxes.

The main focus of the photo-video presentations is the impact of earthquake hazards ground shaking, surface rupture, liquefaction, tsunami, landslides to the community andinfrastructures. The photo-video presentations can be used in the classroom especially in

the courses on Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Management. The materials canalso be used in public awareness campaigns of professional organizations. By presentingthe effects of earthquakes, the public will understand their vulnerability to the differenttypes of seismic hazards. And by knowing ones vulnerability, mitigation actions can bedone to avoid a disaster. To view a sample video: go tohttp://digitalstructures.blogspot.com

Understanding Earthquakes & Disasters

Buildings: Shake, Rattle & Roll( 4:39 min).

In past earthquakes, many buildings hadcollapsed or were damaged due to groundshaking or foundation failures. The presentationshows the common types of failures of buildingslike soft stories, short columns, torsion, poordetailing and ductility in reinforced concretecolumns and beams, and irregular structures.The importance of seismic retrofitting andstrengthening of existing structures is also

highlighted.h

Bridges are Falling Down( 5:52 min).

Bridge superstructures and substructures havebeen damaged in recent earthquakes like the1994 Northridge earthquake and 1995Hyogeken-Nanbu earthquake in Japan. Thispresentation shows the different types ofdamages in bridges and some retrofittingtechniques.t

On Shaky Ground(5:55 min).

This is a presentation of various types ofearthquake geotechnical hazards and theireffects on structures. These hazards includeground ruptures, soil liquefaction and landslides. Since a geotechnical hazard can cause aserious effect on a community, reducing theimpact of these hazards must be addressed.i

QuakeBasics (4:28 min)

This photo-video presents basic concepts anddefinitions related to earthquakes such as platetectonics, types of faults, focus, epicenter,locating an epicenter, magnitude, intensity,various types of seismic waves body andsurface waves. The presentations also showsthe various hazards related to earthquakes andtheir effects.t

http://mysite.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty/oretaahttp://digitalstructures.blogspot.com/http://digitalstructures.blogspot.com/http://mysite.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty/oretaahttp://digitalstructures.blogspot.com/

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Learning Lessons: 1990 Luzon Earthquake(5:32 min).

On July 16, 1990, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8in the Richter scale was generated by thePhilippine fault Zone. The areas most affectedwith intensity VIII were Baguio City, CabanatuanCity and Dagupan City. The total number ofcasualties was about 1,200 and cost of damagewas P18B. The video highlights some of thelessons that can be learned from the damagedbuildings and other structures.b

Beware of Tsunami(6:30 min)

A tsunami is a chain of fast moving waves thatcan be triggered by an earthquake. On Dec. 26,2004, an earthquake generated a large tsunamihitting many countries around the Indian Ocean.Among the countries affected were Indonesia,India, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.Communities near coastal areas are highlyvulnerable to tsunami. Hence, public awarenessabout the impact and mitigation of tsunamis

must be promoted.m

Disasters and Development(5:22 min)

Natural disasters occur if these communitiesare highly vulnerable to the hazards. When adisaster occurs, the development and theeconomy of the country and local community isaffected. As a country develops, the populationincreases and more infrastructures areconstructed, and these may increasevulnerability to the hazards. . Understanding the

relationship between disasters and developmentis important in designing a comprehensivedisaster risk mitigation program.d

Preparing for the Big One(5:14 min)

The key to reducing the impact of earthquakes isdisaster preparedness and mitigation. Since thePhilippines is an earthquake country, it isimportant to prepare against seismic hazards. Thevideo poses some questions and tips to considerwith regards to design and construction ofstructures, seismic assessment and retrofittingand community disaster preparedness.

PHIVOLCS tips before, during and after anearthquake are also presented.

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