10/12/2025
đşTHE TRIANGLE OF LIFE: Save Your Life and Your Loved Ones With It!
If you live in an area that does not normally have earthquakes, then you should read this whole article and share it with your children, friends and family.
âTriangle of Lifeâ: Simply by looking at the following self-explanatory photos, you can learn more than in a thousand words about how to protect yourself during a major earthquake.
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Where should we Go During an Earthquake?
Remember that stuff about hiding under a table or standing in a doorway? Well, forget it! This is a real eye opener. It could save your life someday.
â ď¸ EXCERPT FROM DOUG COPPâS ARTICLE ON âTHE TRIANGLE OF LIFEâ
My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI ), the worldâs most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries. I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years, and have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene â unnecessary.
Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them â NOT under them. This space is what I call the âtriangle of lifeâ. The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the âtrianglesâ you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.
If you are inside a vehicle, come out and sit or lie down next to it. If something falls on the vehicle, it will leave an empty space along the sides. See below:
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1ď¸âŁ Mostly everyone who simply âducks and coversâ when building collapse are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.â°ď¸
2ď¸âŁ Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a bed, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.đź
3ď¸âŁ Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.đ˘
4ď¸âŁ If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.đ
5ď¸âŁ If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.đ
6ď¸âŁ Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!âŠ
7ď¸âŁ Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different âmoment of frequencyâ (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads â horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesnât collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.đŁ
8ď¸âŁ Get near the outer walls of buildings or outside of them if possible â It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior.
