January 21, 2010
The disaster in Haiti has shocked us all. And here in Southern California, many are taking a look, once again, at how prepared we are for the next big quake in our area.In this episode, we sift through earthquake myths, culling out the facts from the fiction. Then, we explore a dirty little secret in Los Angeles - hundreds or even thousands of buildings that are unsafe and could collapse in a quake. Finally, our commentator Marcos Villatoro shares his thoughts on Haiti, and what we've all been seeing on our TV screens.
Re: Marcos Villatoro's commentary
How is it that a people whose fierce desire for self-determinism overthrew their slave masters now are mired in the aid-debt trap? Aiming to get Haitians out of that trap, the popular (twice elected) Jean Bertrand Aristide prioritized food security, health and education, encouraged agricultural co-operatives, and raised the minimum wage. Yet, he was removed from office. Aristide and his family claim that he was forced to sign resignation papers and KIDNAPPED using American planes and military personnel. PBS should explore this claim in a balanced and thorough presentation. In the meantime, anyone interested in Haiti-and that includes most of us these days-should read Randall Robinson's AN UNBROKEN AGONY.
Where you live may be hazardous to your health. SoCal Connected examines the intersection of community, environment and health.
James Goltz says :
This was a mixed bag in terms of quality of information. The program opened with vague references to earthquake early warning, but this concept was never really developed as it could have been. The technology to provide eartquake early warning is here and available; Japan implemented a nationwide earthquake early warning system in October 2007 and research has been ongoing at UC Berkeley, Caltech and USC. Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo) has been considering introduction of a bill to link earthquake early warning to California's high speed rail project. None of this was included despite public interest in this technology and the availability of scientists and emergency managers to discuss it.
The scientific interviews with Sue Hough were very good. The segments dealing with human behavioral response in an earthquake were less so. As a social scientist and emergency manager, I get very tired of hearing about panic in the aftermath of an earthquake. Panic should have, in my opinion, been one of the myths the program debunked along with "morning earthquakes," "earthquake weather" and the innate predictive capabilities of animals. Research has shown that people act rationally and responsibly in and after the occurrance of an earthquake and "panic" whatever that means, is minimal. In general, people who are impacted by an earthquake or other natural disaster respond by helping one another, seeking information and assisting in rescue of people trapped in the debris.
Finally, the segment on non-ductile concrete frame buildings was excellent. The John Stewart interviews were well done and appropriate and the Craig Smith segments were provacative. Although we continue to have problems with unreinforced or poorly reinforced masonry buildings, the risk posed by non-ductile concrete frame buildings is certainly California's premier vulnerability. I also liked coverage of the building experiments at UCLA.