[CHARLITE]

The information is very valuable, especially for those of us who live in California or any other earthquake-prone region. However, it is a bit unrealistic to be advocating "being in a wooden building" during an earthquake! If one is in a glass and steel building when a quake hits, just imagine trying to quickly figure out where there might be a "safer" wooden building to run to! Geez.

But the rest of this information is important, and if this post helps save only one life, some day, then it will be worth the effort that I made to bring it to your attention.

Example: Personally, I would think that the majority would run for stairwells. I would. This expert says that stairwells would be potentially deadly, but most people would instinctively run there, in my opinion.

Char

[BenLurkin]

Fortunately for most of us in California, buildings here are NOT built the same way as they are in Mexico.

[So Cal Rocket]

FROM SNOPES:

We can't say that every single point mentioned in the above article about earthquake safety by controversial "rescue expert" Doug Copp is wrong or bad advice, but there are some pretty substantial reasons why readers might want to take the article (particularly its advice that everyone who uses the "duck and cover" technique in an earthquake ends up crushed to death) with some very large grains of salt:

• Disaster preparedness experts with the American Red Cross dispute that findings based on earthquake experiences in other countries (e.g., Turkey) are applicable to the U.S., where building codes are substantially different.

• The scientific validity of the conclusions expressed in the article has been questioned by others.

• Doug Copp's claim that he performed rescue work at the World Trade Center (for which he was paid $650,000 in compensation for injuries he supposedly sustained there) has been challenged in a series of articles published in the Albuquerque Journal which describe him as a self-serving opportunist rather than a true rescue expert:

  Self-proclaimed rescue guru Doug Copp's mission to ground zero was considered so important that he had clearance to be flown to New York even though all civilian air traffic in the United States had been grounded. Once there, he says he assumed a pivotal role and sustained devastating injuries while wading through the "toxic soup" in search of survivors and victims, and was awarded nearly $650,000 for his injuries. But there is little evidence Copp performed real rescue work, and it is doubtful that he deserves compensation.
  
  Doug Copp was awarded $649,000, tax free, from the fund set up to compensate victims of 9/11. He says it's not enough. But it's doubtful he deserves anything. A Journal investigation found little evidence that Copp did real rescue work in New York. His forays into the rubble were to shoot video, some of which he tried to sell. His claim of seeking medical care within the time frame appears false. All typical of Copp's years as a self-proclaimed rescue guru.

• Other articles have relayed complaints from numerous people who have dealt with Mr. Copp.

• Mr. Copp is under investigation by a U.S. Department of Justice fraud unit.

We'd recommend sticking with safety information prepared by established earthquake safety experts, such as the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.