The Philippines is one of the few countries which are positioned in the Pacific Ring of fire which makes it very vulnerable to earthquakes and as a condo resident, you must be fully knowledgeable on the safety tips and completely aware of how to prepare before, during, and after serious and uncontrolled events such as earthquakes.
If you are a condo owner or resident knowing the safety tips can let you get ready when the sudden earthquake surprises you. Even though, the national building code requires towering developments to have all requirements to be compliant especially on the structural integrity of the buildings; no developer can say that a building can withstand an earthquake’s magnitude and intensity.
To prepare for half the battle, here are some safety tips for all condo residents to get to know and familiarize themselves.
Before Earthquake Safety Tips
Mitigating the massive and destructive effects of earthquakes can be possible for condo residents if they knew what to plan and do before the disaster takes place.
Create a Readiness Plan
Planning out an evacuation plan can prepare you big time before the earthquake happens. Sorting out a good plan with yourself or with your family can help decrease untoward damages and casualties. All members should also know the basic healthcare or emergency hotlines and as well as the numbers to call to check on family members.
Hence it is important to familiarize the safe exit plans and routes in a condo community. During this instance, you can arrange a rendezvous where you and your members can meet if you get separated from the evacuation.
Secure Heavy Furniture
Heavy furniture can cause injuries during earthquakes as it can fall to anyone even to a resident. Securing its placement can lessen injuries most especially head traumas. Safely anchor it to the floor to avoid injuries it might cause during earthquakes and aftershocks.
You can also plan placements of your furniture inside your condo to secure a clear path even if furniture may fall during the earthquake.
Prepare an Emergency Kit
Before the earthquake happens everyone in the condo must secure their emergency kit to aid them after the earthquake or aftershock. Emergency kits can be of so much help whenever you are also trapped in the debris.
Make an emergency kit handy and light to carry. Pack the most essential items to keep you surviving up to days. A basic emergency kit these days should include the following items and goods:
- Drinking water enough for three days
- Canned Food or Ready to Eat Meals
- Whistle
- Flashlight and batteries
- First aid kit and personal medications
- Multipurpose tool
- Phone, power bank, and charger
- Extra clothes
- Personal Hygiene items
- Cash, preferably in small bills
- Important documents such as IDs, passports, deed or lease to the condo and other properties, insurance policies, medical information
During Earthquake Safety Tips
When the quake hits it surely won’t let anyone know it’s coming so anyone should be able to counteract especially during this uncontrolled scenario.
Duck, Cover, and Hold
When the quake comes in relax and don’t panic and immediately look for the sturdiest table inside your condo unit. Duck, cover your head and hold to the table. Watch out for some falling objects too.
Do not get out of the table until the shaking subsides. When the shaking stops keep your calm and execute the plan prepared beforehand.
Find the Safe Place
If the table cannot guarantee enough safe zone when an earthquake comes you can find another safe place to duck, cover, and hold. Sometimes enough support inside a condo unit can be found in beams aligned to your condo walls.
You can find shelter in that interior wall as you duck and cover your head with your arms.
Know other Hazards
When you are looking for a safe place to hide and seek cover, avoid areas such as your kitchen. It can be an accident-prone area during an earthquake as some knives, glasses, and other fragile items can break when they fall.
You may also avoid covering near glass or windows, and heating and cooling appliances as shaking may shorten some circuits and the worst thing that can happen is that it can cause a fire.
Stay in Bed
Earthquakes also happen at night and sometimes when you are asleep in your bed. When you get to wake up from the shaking use your pillow to cover your head. Simply get up and find another place to stay until the shaking is gone when there are falling objects directly to you.
When it’s good to move out go to the nearest evacuation or exit route.
After Earthquake Safety Tips
Aftershock and major post devastation can happen after an earthquake, so you still need extra precaution when going outside of your condo units. Plus, you need to stay calm to prevent any injuries if aftershock strikes right after.
Don’t Use the Elevator
The property management office will surely power down the communities to check if lines are working properly and, in some cases, lines can also be broken. After the earthquake, you may not opt to use the elevator, or you can be trapped inside.
It would be more appropriate to use the fire exits or the staircases in the condo building as it should have been part of your prior evacuation plan.
Find a Safe Spot
Upon reaching the outside of your condo building try to find a safe vacant spot that is clear and away from the damaged structures, glass or windows, and other falling objects that might cause injuries which can also include numbers of people as stampedes may occur from those that are under panic.
You should also avoid large trees in your radius as they can also fall, better go somewhere that is unshaded.
Apply First Aid
Check yourself if you have sustained any minor or major injuries, apply basic first aid to the bleeding to avoid further loss of blood. Afterward, check your members of the family if they need basic aid as well.
If the injury is major pick up the mobile phone and dials the emergency medical hotline.
Get Ready with Aftershocks
Smaller earthquakes or aftershocks commonly happen after the first-hand earthquake which occurs in weeks, months, or even years in sequence with a minimized strength of magnitude and frequency.
What you need to know, if the earthquake is strong then you can expect the larger and numbers of shocks to happen right after. Meanwhile, for condo properties located near the coast you must also be ready for a tsunami warning if earthquake is strong. Government has prepared protocols and measure during evacuation.
Choose a Trustworthy Brand of Condo Investments
Many condominium developers have become more adaptive to the changing times as they came to furthermore improve the structural strength and integrities of their condo for sale properties in the Philippines.
If you are to purchase your condominium unit, it will be appropriate to select and own it from a trusted brand like Vistaland and Lifescapes Inc. with more than four decades of developing residential properties in the country.
And as VLL introduces its newest brand of midrise condo villages, Camella Manors, you can be assured that your investment is put into priority and value.
Camella Manors offers pre selling and ready for occupancy condo properties ranging from 7 to 15 story height and you can feel safer more than its high-rise counterparts in times of earthquakes or natural disasters. The brand offers promising locations away from any major fault lines in the country.
Own a property in Lipa, Caloocan, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa, Butuan, and in Davao City with Camella Manors sub-urban themed condo with a good share of open spaces up to 30 percent. More importantly, the brand adheres to strict implementation and qualification to the national building code of the Philippines throughout all its projects in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
