Road chaos emerges as key earthquake lesson
(CNS): The panicked charge to the roads by thousands of drivers in the immediate wake of Tuesday’s earthquake is emerging as a key lesson for government regarding its disaster management plans. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, Premier Alden McLaughlin said a lot had already been learned about disaster management in respect to earthquakes but he raised concerns people did not heed the multiple tsunami warnings.
Following his official statement recapping the events, the premier told the Legislative Assembly that there were a number of things that had haunted him about the earthquake since it happened.
He said the time between when the quake started and the advisory of a potential tsunami hitting our shores was just 26 minutes. If the earthquake had happened at 2:00 in the morning, there would have been no one in the government building or at Hazard Management to get any warnings out, McLaughlin said.
“Even more scary than that to me… as I stood in my office on the 5th floor and looked down at the gridlock outside of cars, had we a tsunami of any significant proportions, frankly, there would have been hundreds, if not thousands, of people drowned in their cars, let alone anywhere else,” McLaughlin added.
The premier said he supported calls from the opposition leader for a massive public education campaign. He also agreed it was now a matter of critical national importance and there would be considerable thought about how to deal with this type of disaster when there is so little warning.
“We have to think out of the box, as Cayman is so flat, how do we manage this sort of situation?” he said, as he committed to a major assessment of the response and the things that had happened.
In his statement he commended all of the civil servants who worked long and hard in the aftermath. He said the “cool heads of those responsible for managing these types of events showed us that we are in a good place in helping to keep people as safe as possible in these eventualities”.
However the premier stated, “Inevitably, there are things that could have gone better.” As well as a review of the response by all public agencies, there would be a debrief Friday, he said.
Hazard Management Cayman Islands interrupted all radio stations, alerting the public that tsunami waves were possible some nine minutes after the earthquake started. They warned people to move away from the coastline and low lying areas to the upper floors of strong reinforced concrete structures if heading to higher ground was not an option. This was also posted on their website and social media pages.
Some parents have told CNS that long before the warning was lifted, schools were texting them to pick up their children. However, the Department of Education Services said it did not instruct parents to collect students until after the all-clear.
In a statement officials said they followed protocol to ensure the safety of the students and staff. “DES was in constant communication with HMCI and principals, and once the threat of a tsunami was significantly decreased, HMCI advised that it was safe to release students.”
HMCI confirmed the DES statement, adding that thousands of children were assembled outside in muster points following the earthquake and no instructions were issued to pick up children immediately; schools were directed to keep children in place until after the tsunamis all-clear.
But despite the warnings from HMCI on the radio, social media, government TV and social media, the local media and warnings from the police to stay off the roads, thousands of people rushed to their cars within minutes of the quake, creating significant traffic chaos for several hours.
See the time line of warnings issued by HMCI here.
See the premiers official address in the CNS Library and the morning’s La proceedings on CIGTV below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Politics
WE NEED SIRENS set up across the island. I can’t believe you have commenters here who are against warning people of possible tsunami…
Not everyone has access to their phones after an earthquake. And if it happens at night when people are sleeping… who will wake people up and warn them ???
Other countries have sirens. Its about time we invest in getting some.
deaf folks can’t hear sirens!
so the rest of us shouldn’t have them because somehow its discriminatory or rendered non-sensical due to 1% of the population being hearing impaired?
Hazard Management did a good job, but what the earthquake clearly demonstrated is how much Cayman also needs TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. Emergencies like the dump fire, or regular events such as having 4+ ships in port, GT closed for festivities, road works etc etc as drivers we are not given any road closure or diversion warnings – some strategically placed digital billboards which can quickly and easily warn drivers ‘TSUNAMI ALERT – DO NOT USE COASTAL ROADS’ or ‘BYPASS CLOSED – USE ALTERNATIVE ROUTE’ or whatever. In the first instance it could save hundreds of lives, in the second it might ease hundreds of frustrated drivers…..not to mention easier passing of emergency vehicles.
And who will pay for these digital billboards I hear you say??? Surely the duty from the 6000 recently imported cars can cover it!
You are on a third world island. Whenever there is any kind of disaster if your counting on help from the government you will be left out on the streets. Have your own plan and follow it. The best you can do. Most people on the island will be stuck on the roads so don’t plan on using it at all unless you have a bike. Getting to a concrete two story building is the best thing to do.
PTSD: the emotional damage caused by catastrophe.
Good article and included video.
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Disaster-PTSD-the-emotional-damage-caused-by-catastrophe-497132591.html
The sooner you address it, the sooner “emotional “ part of your brain «erases” it.
Good morning beautiful people. PTSD has affected the entire population of the Cayman Island. The same happened in Alaska after November 2018 quake. So this is normal. Your reactions are normal.
Some will snap back to normal fast, some would need help. Seek Professionals counseling in PTSD.
Large organizations could hire counselors, for many people are probably packing already.
Puerto Rico is shaking non stop, every few minutes. Even scientists dont know why.
https://apnews.com/88b9ce52a088d6962c2c431ab762f801 Experts seek answers behind constant quakes in Puerto Rico
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes
With hurricanes, earthquakes, rising sea levels, traffic jams and an irresponsible government, I have decided it is time to sell up and leave. I am a Caymanian heading to the UK now with my new British passport. I will happily trade the weather for stability.
Enjoy brexit. Complainer
Brexit is a very good thing for the Uk. The EU will crumble with the UK gone.
You’ll be back.
My hahahahaha haha!!!
bye bye…
we had that 20 years ago…
You forgot to mention the Dump, mosquitoes control chemical and incinerators without pollution control. By the way anyone checks The Health City incinerator? What do they do with the ash it produces? Yeah, right, DOE had said they have no emissions standards, no equipment and no qualified personnel to do so.
1:13 I think you mean DEH when you talk about the dump… DOE have nothing to do with the dump or mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are MRCU
Ah yes, good old Brexit stability. Enjoy the Tory government.
Mate. Almost any government is better than the dictators you have here.
We ignored the tsunami warnings because they were stupid. (A) They came out late. (B) There was never a large wave predicted, based on the very warnings that were panicking people. – This is why those warnings come with the header ‘for local authorities’. Its also why HMCI need to get better at emergency communication. There should have been no local tsunami warning on Tuesday. What should have been issued was a tsunami reassurance – we might get a less than three foot wave, at around 2:35 – 2:40pm.
Basically you were more likely to get wet from ‘normal’ bad weather than from the tsunami we had.
PS> I’ll give HMCI a pass on (A) and accept their claim of a turn-around time of a few minutes between receiving the alert and putting it out. But not for putting out alerts that frightened people unnecessarily. (And since many people never herd those alerts it seems, given their timeline vs personal experience, we just confirmed we have a problem with issuing alerts that reach ‘everyone’ in a timely manner.)
What a maroon! …smh 🙁
I prefer red!
3 feet tsunami can knock you off your feet and drown.
If it’s 3 ft above ground level.
What do you think happens to a 3 foot tsunami when it hits land? Answer, it piles up on itself.
Agree 100% the nature of the warning was to create fear and drama for no reason. Now government is questioning why people panicked? Idiots
The only bigger quake, since such measurements began, was an 8.1 Mag on Aug 4, 1946 along the same “benign” strike-slip fault as ours. 2500 people drowned or were crushed in the “stupid” 16ft tsunami that resulted. The tsunami was observed throughout the Caribbean and Atlantic and confirmed (in hindsight) by instruments in San Juan PR, Bermuda, Daytona Beach FL, and Atlantic City NJ. There is historical evidence of entire fleets being wrecked by rogue waves in Caribbean, and geological evidence of much larger historical forces, but you wouldn’t be interested in that. An aftershock of 7.6Mag was delivered 4 days later too. Carry on.
Interesting…where did you find this info?
Not quite right.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Dominican_Republic_earthquake
This would be like an earthquake on the Brac knocking the end of the bluff into the sea and the resulting tsunami washing over the Brac and Little Cayman. But not comparable to what we just experienced.
Its misunderstandings like this that lead to panic.
Hindsight is a beautiful thing. I am going to call it out as it is:
There are a lot of self important people on this site, sitting in front of their computer monitors, in their underpants, scratching their not sacks with not enough to do. And thinking everybody else needs to know their self inflated puffed opinion. When really mostly all they are is complainers and their advice is really not that useful or beneficial. They just want people to like their comments because it feeds their ego but is it really helpful just to be negative undermine and not offer actual constructive advice. Imagine if HMCI had actually minimized the threat (as suggested) with the videos going around and docks smashed and boats sunk and sinkholes opening I wonder how well that would have worked for them. People are not easy and when you are in the moment you have to make decisions without the benefit of how things turned out – just saying…
Obviously you have nothing else to do either
Was anything the OP said inaccurate? No. There is no need to panic people when there is no need. What they did was like the proverbial shout of fire in a theater. Even if there is a fire we now know that the right thing to do is say ‘move calmly and quickly to the exits’. Shouting TSUNAMI! just panics everyone. And it was obviously needless from a couple of minutes in, by their own timeline. Look at when they received the prediction for a small tsunami, what they say they said afterwards, and then when they issued the all-clear.
What’s a not sack?
Tsunami is not the problem, its the break up of our moral foundation. The wise man built his house on a rock. The foolish man built his house on the philosophies of life. Trouble came and his house fell. If Caymanians don’t come together, start caring for the environment, showing love to others, but everyone caught up in the pursuit of “self,” bad consequences will follow. Like the moon effects the gravitational pull of the sea, so morality effects the foundations of life, earth, and society.
with all the developments of steel and concrete on island its only a matter of time before we break off the edge cayman is sitting on and sink deep into the trench.
What is the required depth for foundation for 10-50 story buildings?
Lol I bet you would’ve said it was a sign if referendum day was on the day of the quake. Correlation doesn’t imply causation, buddy.
Caymanians coming together is never going to happen. Its cultural and not gonna change. Plan something else,
It is NOW time that CIG mandate that ALL institutions in these islands have an earthquake survival plan that is most fitted for these islands and not one that is cut and pasted and put in a ring binder and placed on some manager’ s shelf in his or her office.
That fact of the matter is this, the whole of the Caribbean is in an earthquake zone and we need NOW put equal importance on surviving an earthquake as we do to that of hurricanes.
Rest assured, it is not the question will we have another earthquake but when. Planning for the next one and the nextone etc is of utmost importance.
As the old saying goes ‘ It is better to be safe than sorry.’
Yeah, the Fire Dept doesn’t even check to see if building hydrants function properly. Good luck!
Blah blah blah blah
You are never safe onGrand Cayman. No mandates would save you. You’ll die from cancer before next earthquake or tsunami strikes. You have your own survival plan.
I was on the lookout for the wave, really terrified I saw the warning on CIG TV . Chilling! I located a communication tower and began to climb hoping the shaking would stop and holding on for dear life. That Tusanami warning was worst than the earthquake.. The question was where to run?
Slip-strike earthquakes along fault lines don’t necessarily cause tsunami, but continued destabilization of undersea rock can. Bartlett Deep in Cayman Trench is >22,000ft deep and largely unmapped for hazards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXCIfatJYo
If that 7.7 had hit closer than it did, we’d have been in a whole world of trouble and CIG and everyone else knows it. There is no reason for us not to have another equally strong quake in the coming years, probably not too soon as the pressure needs to build again, but now we all know we can have them as bad is we’ve seen in Chile or Asia or Greece. Those saying our buildings code saved us? Nonsense. The distance of the quake, combined with the sideways action of the plate saved us.
But what underlying weakness did it create in all our buildings and roads? If we get another 7.7 in the same spot, we will likely have more damage and sinkholes because this one will already have weakened us. We simply don’t know.
What we do now know is this – we’re likely quite royally f*cked if a mega quake hits as close as the 4. did yesterday, some 20 miles offshore. The water table will burst up most of the drains, we’ll have sinkholes everywhere, likely buildings will collapse, probable water surge will swamp the roads anywhere between 1 – 10 ft in minutes
And CIG will not be able to tell us what to do in time. Not that this matters – if you dont know what to do when the ground is swaying beneath you, no elected official can help you.
Yeah, did you see that real estate guy filmed himself while it was happening rather than seek safety? Who are these people!
Staying put during the shaking is generally the safe thing to do.
Under something sturdy while covering vital organs… not filming.
I’m going to continue my practice of leaving buildings that are in a state of liquefaction. There are no sturdy solids when physics changes.
Narcissism is a disease. Poor guy is as thick as mince anyway.
Ever been a better time for shameless self promotion.
To be real.. who in their right mind thinks CIG is qualified to tell anyone to do anything? They can’t get garbage collection done right and who would want them for guidance during an earthquake? I’ll show myself out.
No one ever has to wonder why we are in this mess take one look at our leadership eh?? IQ of a marble
Don’t insult marbles.
When you issue 40,000 permits how can anyone complain about Mayhem and chaos on our roads .When you have traffic police issuing bad driver or driving warnings I drove carefully as I could through this traffic mess but I must say saw some people behind the wheel of cars with phone in hand who clearly should not even be pushing a shopping cart. As for laurel and Hardy alden and arden complaining about traffic and a 2 am in the morning scenario and govt not being awake oh well what is difference does that make??? Please spare us with your What If speech.Driving is not a right Alden it’s a privilege still have not forgotten your little radio speech when ask about the amount cars on road. Same mindset as your work permit fees policy.
I’m going to get a pedalo, one that can be used to crawl at Cayman traffic speeds, then, when tsunami hits, my swan based transport has me regally cruising through the ETH river.
Alden, this is not the first earthquake, or first tsunami alert we have had… Government said that they would address the issues then and once again, $!&%!& all has been done.
CNS – can you please do a story on why Hazard Managements emergency update system failed to send out one message to anyone?! They’ve been “working” on this for 2 years…
Hazard Management sent out warning notifications 2 messages after receipt of the first message sent out by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Please see the communications timeline here:
http://www.caymanprepared.ky/portal/page/portal/hmchome/pressroom/Press%20Releases%202020/Communications%20Timeline
Who were these messages sent to and how? Bear in mind most of us were at work not on the radio or Internet. I got no messages.
Me neither. I have no radio in the office. Company policy and I certainly received no text messages from HM. Only in Cayman. Any where else in the world everyone managing this disaster would have been forced to step down or be relieved of duties.
HMCI did an excellent job in the circumstances. The reaction to their message is where the real issues lie.
What kool aid are you drinking? Had a tsunami hit the island thousands of people would be dead right now just because of the lack information provided as you so mentioned.
the real tragedy was the traffic not the shake i sat in traffic for almost three hours, almost died from it.
4:34 pm: most people got the message from the rumour hotline and did not know what to believe.
Messages need to be pushed to phones. That is the only way to reach the majority of people.
Why can’t Hazard Management work out a deal with Flow and Digicel for this type of emergency cooperation? In fact, the two companies should do free of cost as a service to the community.
Your Government can not save you or themselves. “Working on it” is what they do for a living. Getting it done doesn’t pay as well.
People rushed to their cars BECAUSE they were heeding the tsunami warnings. They were trying to get away from the coast and get to higher ground. But because of our poor roading infrastructure they were sitting ducks stuck in a giant traffic jam.
Exactly
Get to higher ground in a car?????? Where were they going???
Moving to the upper floor of a building greater than 1 story on foot would have been a much smarter decision.
These people were trying to save their cars.
Right but if you’re in south sound or west bay you need to find a high building by car.
Darwin Awards.
Some companies would not let employees into the building after as they needed to check the buildings so a lot of people had no choice but to get in their car.
Maybe better public transport again?
In civilized countries where building codes are enforced, falling debris kill and injure more people than collapsed buildings do. Duck under a cover during earthquake, when shaking stops, put shoes on and go outside. Stay away from tall buildings.
Oceans recede before tsunami, you would notice that if you are on a beach. But in your case, sharp drop could create a different scenario.
the traffic jams seen on tues…will become the norm in 18 months.
Might there be any seismologists who may have studied the 1692 Port Royal earthquake and resulting tsunami (right next door to us) to see what effects the Cayman Islands experienced from that? There may not have been any inhabitants here to record anything so there may not be any historical data but with computer models, scientific data can be extrapolated.
Perhaps analysing such data can give a sense of what we could expect and perhaps give our Government more info in order to create some workable response plan.
Liquefaction. Lots of data. Entire books on the incident.
We do need to learn lessons here through honest and fair constructive review/analysis.
It was traumatic, and individuals should not be blamed for their natural reactions. The experience at the GAB involved leaving the building, being told to return to a high floor due to the risk of a tsunami, parents being told to pick thier children from school (despite the tsunami risk not having been lifted), and a (frightening) fire alarm causing further confusion about whether or not staff were to stay where they were.
Let’s get a properly coordinated approach in place, recognising that responses to emergency situations will never be perfect due to natural human reaction and unpredicatability – but please Cayman, don’t ignore the trauma people have just experienced this week. Some people just move on quickly, others need a bit more of our support.
PTSD: the emotional damage caused by catastrophe.
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Disaster-PTSD-the-emotional-damage-caused-by-catastrophe-497132591.html
It is real and must be addressed.
We’ve been hyper-sensitive to any abnormal vibrations since the rattle in Dec 2004…right after the carnage of Ivan. That was the first big one for many, and particularly cruel and unusual timing. It made me research how vulnerable we actually are sitting on the top of a lone mountain on the shoulder of an abyssal trench. But, still, pretty good trade off for the sunsets.
HAHAHA get a grip!
I saw a video. Insane.
And how to get there without driving.
cig caught out again….absolute shambles from them….on radio cayman all they could do was give updates(late) from the internet….
And meanwhile many of us are not permitted to surf the net or listen to the radio at work. I had no clue about tsunami warning until after I finally got home. Why don’t they send text messages to all phones?
“Heading to higher ground”?? Could someone tell me ( and Hazard Management) where that is in Grand Cayman?
Mount Trashmore!
The advice that was issued was for persons to head for higher ground or go up vertically in reinforced concrete structures to upper floors. We recognize that large parts of Cayman are low lying and in some areas neither option is available.
So what are we supposed to do?
If you live or work in a low lying area, especially in you are in a single story building consider in advance where you would go if you had a short time to react, to seek higher ground or the location of multi story reinforced concrete structure so you can go up.
Yes, there are lots of those In BT.
Would you rather they not put out the warnings? Or are you advocating that they have to buy everyone a pair of stilts?
What I am advocating is text message warnings to all Cayman cellphones. I came home in the traffic, which took 2 hours, and only then did I hear about the tsunami warning from someone who had been listening to the radio. What good is that? I am struggling to think of anywhere around me in BT that is more than a storey high. Had I received a text message, I could have stayed in town and heeded the warning.
You sat in your car for two hours following a major earthquake and did not have the radio on? You wanted to communicate by text on your cell phone while you were driving?
Sorry bud, cannot help you there.
I do not have a radio in my car. I do not use my phone in the car. As I clearly said, had I received a text message while still at work, I would have stayed put. Learn to read before you judge.
4.26 Did the petson listening at home call to warn you?
No. Because the person listening was a neighbour. I live alone. Even if someone did call, I actually obey the law and do not use it when driving, even if stood in traffic.
How do you go up a building horizontally?
Are reinforced concrete buildings labeled? Should they be?
When I got a job in Cayman, we had orientation meeting for new hires and an annual update for other employees. We got a booklet as well. Coming from an earthquake prone state I looked at the disasters section and found not a word about earthquakes. So I asked and was sort of brushed off, for all attention was on hurricanes. Having some marbles in my head I knew that earthquakes are possible here. Fast forward, I was the only person who immediately got under the desk during 2010 earthquake, while the entire office, 200+ people, got panicked and rushed outside. More people killed by falling debris, glass than in buildings collapse. But nobody knew that except me. Our office building is all glass.
Information is available about earthquakes and tsunamis on HMCI’s website http://www.caymanprepared.ky under the Hazards section and also under the Resouces section. HMCI provides (free) Hazard Awareness sessions for businesses, Churches, Civic Organisations, Schools and Government Agencies, please contact us to arrange one, or (visit or) call the HMCI office.
This sort of training should be compulsory for all employers to provide.
Great Simon, it is good that you came out from under your desk to inform the public after the fact. Many thanks to you and your lot, a lot of us would have been killed due to your lack of information and timing of information as we are now only learning of your free training sessions.
Just because you’re now learning about it doesn’t mean they haven’t been talking about this stuff for a few years. Its just that we only pay attention when something forces it into tour consciousness.
(I recall watching the HMCI booth at the Ag Show a few years ago, with the public bypassing it. Its really hard to get people to listen in advance.)
yet there was no current information on that site or any other government site about the quake or potential tsunami, the only way many people found out about the alert was from the “marl road”
Same on Tuesday at my workplace. Car park was packed and 2 of us left inside shaking our heads at them. And neither of us are from an earthquake zone.
And if it was bad enough to bring the building you we’re in down then those 200 people who ‘panicked’ would have been safe outside while your calm and collected ass would be buried alive under your desk. I’m running outside every earthquake. The hell I going stay inside to be buried alive? Foolishness.
There are two types of people, those that panic and those that don’t. No amount of legislation or advice can change this unfortunately.
Aren’t you smart
Someone should probably let Alden know that if it happens at 2am, not many will be jumping in their cars and rushing to schools. For what it’s worth, the very same chaos ensued after the shake in 2004.
I heard noting on the radio abut a tsunami. As a matter of fact 89.9 went off the air. It would have hit 37 minutes after the earthquake. I think we need a better system
‘Just 26 minutes’ – as if that’s somehow commendable. The epicenter was 160 miles away, tsunamis can travel at the same speed as a plane 500-600mph – we’d have been dead in roughly 17 minutes if a huge tsunami had been triggered. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – don’t wait for warnings or announcements you’ll die just waiting social media. Once a quake is over get up high.
The Premier was saying the tsunami wave would have arrived within 26 minutes (he was not referring to the timelines of the messaging). The first warnings were issued by HMCI two minutes after receipt of the first notification by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and eight minutes after the shaking stopped.
Dear people of Cayman, we cannot get a tsunami here of the ones you’ve seen in Asia or on Hollywood movies. We’re on a mountain top with a very short shore line between us and 20,000 feet down. The energy wave of an earthquake that may produce a tsunami would simply bounce off us with only a small proportion (100 feet ish out to the reef divided by 20,000ft) coming ashore…i.e. next to bugger all. I think we need to change the warning from the word tsunami which has frighting connotations to most people and just say there may be a slight sea level rise of a foot or so.
You sure about this? Any computer models or real world examples?
Here’s a real world example and they didn’t have 20,000 ft to protect them.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6786984/ns/world_news-tsunami_a_year_later/t/tsunami-spares-us-base-diego-garcia/#.XjRti2hKiM8
Oh John, would that you were right! Alas this is just wishful thinking.
If the tsunami comes, it comes as high as it is destined to be.
No, no it doesn’t. It comes based on physics. Fluid mechanics was part of my degree. What did you study?
Of course, John, looking at an oceanography map, we are on a mountain top. But a mountain with a WATER TABLE beneath us. That is why we are getting sink holes! The ground beneath us seems to become very easily fluid and unstabled with enough shaking.
On the west side of the island, that is the George Town side, we are on (so to speak) the edge of a cliff. A sudden drop off into a trench of below 1000 feet deep. And that’s one reason we could not extend the dock from the G.T. harbour any further. This is why this government is hell bent about creating a “special” cruise birthing facility.
So, I’m not so certain, John. Are we really safe from the dangers of water!
You do know, earthquakes can weaken the ground, weaken cliffs, weaken foundations. Places have sunk (e.g. like Port Royal) because of earthquakes. I don’t want to scare you or anyone. But the facts are the facts.
“You do know, earthquakes can weaken the ground, weaken cliffs, weaken foundations. Places have sunk (e.g. like Port Royal) because of earthquakes.”
Not disagreeing with you. My point was on panicking people about Hollywood style tsunamis that just cant happen here.
Sure ok? But what about the Island breaking off into the trough in the event of a massive earthquake? That scenario would be worst than any tsunami threat.
You make sound so easy. Are you sure now?
Well John. Come the day, you are welcome to stand on the beach and test your theory.
yes of course, because I know how the universe work.
Physics doesn’t lie.
Apart from the article in the Compass today where a scientist says that that doesn’t compute if it’s a subduction quake or there’s a landslide in the Trench, in which case we could get up to a 10 metre tsunami.
Yes, for places that have a long sloping shorelines. Like in Indonesia or Thailand etc. Not here.
John, remember, George Town is right next to a very deep trench. There are recorded mini quakes there almost everyday. That in itself is sharp SLOPE. All we know is there plate movements down there. We don’t know about these plates. Whether they are in movement side-by-side or one-under-the-other. A tsunami can be created by a sudden rise of the ocean floor because of plate. Many times scientist are wrong. What plate cause a tidal wave to hit Haiti several years ago? John, please be honest, we don’t know. If we dod, scientist would have been able to predict earthquakes. But they can’t.
Wrong. we do know. The universe obeys the laws of physics.
Yes, we aren’t able to predict when earthquakes arrive, ..yet.., but we do know the physics of the consequences afterwards and yes, all you fear mongers, if we get a direct 10 hit and the mountain we’re on breaks and we slides in the trench… then yes we’re fooked. But the odds are just ridiculous. But if it is just a big quake and a massive sea uplift then we’re o.k. and yes i will stand on the beach and watch minimal inundation.
No one is challenging you to stand on some beach, John. You go by yourself. Your views are your views. My views are my views. I disagree with you. And I don’t think you should encourage anyone to join you to play games of physics on the beach after an earthquake. After an earthquake, I for one I’m heading for higher ground. I leave it at that.
He said here. And if you are right, want to explain the conch shells found on the Brac? Historic evidence that tsunamis are capable of impacting Cayman. Think I will go with advice from the expert and the historic empirical evidence rather than someone with a degree in fluid dynamics but not the specialist application of that.
Nonsense. There was a giant tsunami that hit Port Royal, Jamaica in 1692 killing hundreds. Why can a giant tsunami not hit here.
There’s a difference between earthquake damage and tsunami damage.
Yes a big earth quake here can cause a lot of damage and a direct 10 mag could possibly collapse the mountain we are on (dont panic the odds are stupid). But that is highly unlikely and any other quake that causes an uplift rather than a side movement would still not affect Cayman in any major way as we have no long sloping shoreline line going out miles. we’re all fine. Stop stupid fear mongering.
The shoreline is also much longer and shallower than Cayman.
That may not be the case. It should be noted that the historical record shows that 95 percent of all fatalities from tsunamis in the Caribbean have occurred from events along the same strike slip (transform plate) boundary line that the Cayman Islands is located on – not the subduction zone in the Eastern Caribbean. So these events occurred from earthquakes generated from the Caribbean / North American plate interaction. Most of these deaths were the result of submarine landslides, slips and slumps.
It should also be noted that tsunamis do not just affect the coastal areas facing the direction of the event, all sides of the Island could and will be affected. Finally there some fairly extensive areas of shallows that could provide suitable conditions for tsunami wave run up and increased wave amplitude (see 10 square miles of shallows in North Sound, and also parts of East End and South Sound where the shelf drop off is well over a mile offshore)
Certainly won’t wait around to find out.however as you mentioned about a mountain top, all this drilling into the cavities by NRA and Dart, don’t you think this is what is causing all the sink holes?
Thank you John for your words of wisdom. Most of us on Cayman get it. Many, many others will never get it. They believe in Bush not facts. Let them be.
God bless our dear. Premier!
O yes, pray for our Premier too. The same Premier who wants to INCREASE OUR POPULATION $$$$$ … AND, HENCE VOLUME OF TRAFFIC !
And supports the building of a 50 storey building.
Two. Dart plans to build not one, but two. Cayman twin towers.
It is frightening how little HMCI knows. We are in the same GAB as that entity yet no firedrill in 4 years. Most of us did not know what exit to use. It was extremely difficult to get out of the building. We were then told to go to the second floor when tsunsmi warning was issued. Two minutes later we are told to go the 4th and 5th floors. Some of us just went back to our offices and prayed. Total chaos.
HMCI is not responsible for Fire Drills in Government Administration Building. We are happy to provide hazard awareness sessions for any and all Government Departments and Agencies. They are free, please just reach out to us and arrange a time.
I’d rather arrange it with Google
SAVE A LIFE ARTICLE:
There is an article going around on WhatsApp which is the best article to inform the public of what to do to save your life during an earthquake.
The article is from a Mr. Doug Copp who is the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI).
Everyone should read the article carefully and advise your children of what to do. This article will save a life.
It’s important to be mindful about what articles one believes and whose advice one follows! Regarding Doug Copp’s “triangle of life” theories, there is another article well worth reading: https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/survive-earthquake5.htm
That article presents a body of research that suggests:
“Unfortunately, while Copp’s survival tips are found all over the Internet, a lot of controversy goes along with them. Snopes.com, the popular site for debunking rumors and urban legends, has found several problems with Copp’s advice [source: Snopes]. The site points out that many of Copp’s claims have been debunked on scientific grounds or shown to be inaccurate because they come from experiences in other countries with different building codes. He has also been shown to have distorted and selectively used evidence to prove his points [source: Petal].” There are other suggestions in that “HowStuffWorks” article, based on research that the article’s author had reviewed.
In any case when presented with these sorts of articles that can have such an impact on one’s decision-making for safety, health, and preservation of things of such value, it’s important to exercise good “critical thinking skills” so as to discern the facts by considering a topic or an issue in an objective and critical way, thinking clearly and systematically. I’m not suggesting that we should criticize everything! Instead, as one author put it, “Critical thinking is analyzing, looking beyond the surface, not just accepting things at face value but asking questions [in your thought process] and being active in your thought process.”
I hope this is helpful.
And….. Don’t believe all that Snopes puts out. The original Snopes family was bought out by an organization that is politically motivated and provide you with information, or LACK of information to further their own cause.
before you go believing everything that gets circulated via the internet, do your own fact checking. There are many articles debunking Copps “triangle of life” method, here’s one https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/triangle-of-life/
No Government in any country (that I am aware of) recommends using the Doug Copp Triangle of Life method. It is potentially dangerous and can leave your head exposed to objects falling from above.
Vote No
Fix the damn dump.
Not if it is going to save us in a tsunami! Raise the dump!
Do I understand this correctly:The Schools instruct parents to collect their children while the police are saying stay off the roads.
You can’t have it both ways. IF a sensible national plan is devised, contradictions such as this shoud be avoided. Furthermore separate plans for the three islands will be needed given that the Brac has plenty of elevation so instructions which may make sense in downtown George Town will be nonsense elsewhere.
What many schools and others did amounts to abject negligence, verging on insanity. This crap kills people. Does no one think for themselves anymore?
Well, the secretary at my children’s school on the Brac was encouraging parents to pick up their children. I, for one, was totally against it.
Look, we got lucky. I think all the schools are evaluating how they managed the aftermath. And rightfully so. My child’s school sent an email to have us pick them up. The kids were waiting outside in a low lying area during the warming. I, for one, am grateful we came out unscathed as that was a big shake.
If there was a tsunami, everyone along the roads, stuck in traffic would have drown in their cars. We really don’t know how to save ourselves, do we? At least now, we can reflect what just happened, and bend our knees in prayer to the Most High.
this a lot like getting slapped and thankful they didn’t bruise you. You have no idea how traumatized some people got.
what kinda most high causes stuff like this, mosquitoes, childhood cancer??
You miss the point completely and ignorantly remove yourself from the only protection that exists. God is not mocked, what mankind sows, mankind reaps.
Evil abounds and you attribute it to good?
Not as clear as you lot think.
God in his ways will not save everyone. Especially the ignorant. Let them talk. It makes them feel important.
smh… hey bro, the last I would want to do AT THIS TIME is use my lil finite brain cells to start blaming the most high !!! 😐
Brain cells? WHAT brain cells, 5:48?
Don’t worry, you have people on your side. Common sense will prevail eventually. Hopefully.
Maybe when one of their own mothers drops into a sinkhole they’ll start questioning just how legitimate God is.
Oooo the One is Legit. And you will see.
You see to believe calamity makes Him illegitimate. You are but dust. He doesn’t have to prove a mortal anything. It would be so unnecessary. 120 year max you have, you die, and then you are judged ☝🏾
There is nothing we can do if a giant wave rolls over the island. Its flat here it would wipe out a lot of people. Thankfully, such an event is highly unlikely due to our geography. If that huge quake we just had only produced a .4m wave, imagine what it would take to make a wave with significant impact. We would be done regardless of the tsunami.
I knew I had little faith in the Hazard management suggestions- when they said if at night
there were more tremors we should place a sheet over our bodies and continue to lay in bed- I just turned my radio and TV off-
How stupid – who do they think want to be buried alive by concrete- I saw what happened in Haiti, so many people were buried alive by concrete by hiding under tables ect
For me I am running out side-
HMCI advises the public to follow the same procedures as the US Federal Government and most other Government Agencies on how to respond during an earthquake (if you are in bed, or outside or in a car etc.) Running for the exits during an earthquake is not recommended and has been shown to increase the probability of injuries or loss of life because you leave your head exposed to objects falling from above and sometimes the facades of buildings fall crushing persons who attempt this.
Natural selection.
I was on my motorcycle skipping traffic on my way to mount trashmore right after I felt it.
Not saying it’s for everyone, just people who travel alone in a vehicle. Got traffic? Get two wheels. Win for you, Win for others that have one less car in front.
It would liquify and swallow you.
If a tsunami liquifies that compacted mountain, no 2 story building on Cayman would survive anyway
Straight up the verge no doubt.
I have keys to the blue monster ( Trash compactor ) at mount trashmore . Next tsunami warning I know where I’am heading. If you need to evacuate to higher ground. Come Early, Bring WALLET, Seating Limited.
I’ll bring the beer