The importance of community engagement in risk reduction
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In the Bam earthquake, the ratio of the dead to the total population of the city was approximately 30% of the residents, and the number of dead was almost twice the number of injured. While in most of the big earthquakes in the world (greater than 7 on the Richter scale), in the worst conditions, the number of dead reaches one-third of the number of injured.
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The type of residential structures, which were mostly made of clay, was also a factor that led to an increase in the number of people killed in this incident. Most of the deaths in the city of Bam and surrounding areas are related to old, clay, and brick buildings. According to the estimate, more than 90% of the dead are related to such buildings that have been destroyed.
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The analysis of the lessons learned and the available documents regarding the Bam earthquake shows that the preparedness of people and organizations to face this event was very low. At the time of the earthquake, most of the people were either asleep or were terrified by the feeling of the ground shaking, and unfortunately, due to the lack of pre-disaster training and insufficient preparation, they were unable to take proper shelter, or they did not know the methods and places of shelter at all, or While running towards the exit door, they slipped and fell to the ground, and unfortunately they were buried under the rubble.
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Another factor is community engagement in increasing earthquake preparedness. The existence of many inconsistencies and weaknesses in the management of relief, volunteers, and popular forces made it impossible to use the potential of the existing forces to an optimal extent, and with the availability of the most human resources, executive activities in the earthquake scene still face problems.
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