Stay away from glass windows and do not use elevators in the event of an earthquake.

Santo Domingo, DR
During an earthquake, it is recommended to remain calm, not use elevators or stairs, stay away from glass windows or mirrors, and duck, cover, and protect yourself.

Also, after checking if your relatives are at the meeting point, do not return to the building until you have checked that the building is not damaged, do not light matches or open flame devices, and touch a whistle, which is recommended to have nearby, if you have been trapped.

These are part of the orientations that the Dominican Red Cross gives at the beginning of a day of education aimed at providing families with the necessary preparation tools to reduce the risks in the event of an earthquake and the devastating results of these phenomena, such as what happened recently in Turkey and Syria.

To this end, the entity, through its Directorate of Relief and Risk Management, informed that it has initiated a period of talks addressed to the citizens so that they can learn and prepare a Family Emergency Plan that will allow them to reduce the risks in the event of a high magnitude earthquake affecting the country.

The Family Emergency Plan consists of a set of actions that all Dominican families can practice in their homes, with the necessary steps to help preserve life during an earthquake, as explained by Altagracia Capellán, director of Relief and Risk Management.

She explained that this humanitarian organization is willing to offer these awareness talks to public and private companies, universities, schools, and community organizations and that those interested may request it through the following email: dir.sgr@cruzroja.org.do

14 seismic faults

Likewise, Teófilo Marmolejos, in charge of Community Preparedness and who gives the talks, explained the different causes of earthquakes, among which are the activity of geological faults, friction at the edge of tectonic plates, volcanic processes, and asteroid or comet impacts. Humans can even produce them when carrying out subway nuclear detonation tests.

In that order, he indicated that the main seismic threat in the Dominican Republic is represented by the interaction of the Caribbean plate with the North American plate, especially in the north-northeastern part of the island.

In the northern part are the Septentrional fault and the Camú fault, which are important seismogenic sources.

Marmolejos recalled that the country has 14 seismic faults that live in constant movements, many of them imperceptible, but recently there have been some of the considerable intensity, causing geologists to warn about the possibility of stronger ones, so it is urgent to implement this plan that contemplates the actions to be taken before, during and after a telluric movement.

The person in charge of Community Preparedness offered these orientations from the National Training Center of the Red Cross, Cenaca, where he gave the talk to volunteers and collaborators of the humanitarian organization.

Tools

To the participants of the talks, the Dominican Red Cross gives them a kit containing a template for the elaboration of the plan, a waterproof bag, a whistle, a pen, a checklist of documents where they should place birth certificates, property titles, passports, vehicle registrations, among others.

In addition to the talks, the entity emphasized that its volunteers socialize the Family Emergency Plan in the Santo Domingo Metro stations, bus stops, and other places of high concurrence of people, as is the case of the Colonial Zone in the National District.