Earthquakes - stay inside or go out?

As expected, the death toll in the Chilean earthquake has risen – to at least 300, and dozens more are feared trapped in a block of flats in Concepcion. Powerful aftershocks have been felt in a number of cities, including Santiago.

Tsunami waves hit coastal towns, with Talcahuano the most seriously damaged. French Polynesia and Tahiti have also experienced big waves – though no casualties have been reported – and Japan has evacuated more than 300,000 people thought to be at risk.

90% of those killed in Chile are said to have died in their own homes, and many survivors spent last night sleeping outside. The question of where there are more dangers – in a building or in the open air – often presents those caught up in earthquakes with a terrifying dilemma.

A Chinese scholar named Qin Keda, who survived the great Shaanxi earthquake of 1556, had no doubt – stay inside. “Just crouch down,” he advised, “and wait. Even if the nest is collapsed , some eggs may still be kept intact.” It is not clear whether those who cowered indoors did any better than those who went outside, but up to 830,000 people are said to have been killed in the quake – probably the most deadly the world has ever seen. (see also my blogs of Jan 23, 2009 and Jan 22, 2010)

Congo - a glimmer of hope? + a deadly anniversary

News that General Laurent Nkunda, leader of one of the main rebel groups fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been arrested. Nkunda, a Tutsi, had helped protect Rwanda against attacks by Hutus who had fled to the Congo after being driven out by the Rwandan Patriotic Front in 1994.

The RPF put a stop to the Rwandan genocide by Hutu extremists that killed 800,000 people – mainly Tutsis – in just 100 days. The Rwandan government has been accused of backing the general, but it now seems to have turned against him. It remains to be seen whether the arrest will help end a conflict that has seen up to five million people killed.

On this day.....453 years ago. On January 23, 1556, China suffered one of the world’s deadliest earthquakes. From its epicentre in Shaanxi, it devastated ten provinces and claimed about 830,000 victims – many of them people who lived in caves they had dug out of the soft earth.