This autumn, a series of powerful and destructive earthquakes struck my country’s immediate neigbour, Italy, wreaking havoc on the region’s infrastructure and terrifying the populace. As I was reading The Argus’ November story on the topic of structural safety of HUFS buildings, warning systems and safety drills used in other countries, I realized how woefully unprepared a citizen in my country is for an eventuality of a strong and destructive earthquake.

During all of my years in the education system, I have never been informed of procedures that are to be followed in the case of an earthquake, let alone participated in a drill. But not just trusting this anecdotal evidence, I took to the internet and researched my country’s and university’s laws and guidelines regarding earthquake safety. The findings were quite appalling. There seem to be no laws prescribing the creation of earthquake survival manuals and drills, and people are not taught how to distinguish the siren’s earthquake warning signal from others. That is extremely concerning, given that my country lies in an earthquake-prone region, with a history of very destructive occurrences in the past, including one significantly damaging the capital in 1895.

Arne Jakob Zakrajsek
Exchange Student

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