Injury Patterns Associated with Earthquakes

Abstract

Major earthquakes create disaster conditions because the resulting structural collapse causes significant morbidity and mortality. An estimated 15 million deaths have been caused by earthquakes since the beginning of recorded history. (1) Earthquakes have caused an average of 11,250 deaths per year for the last 40 years(2) accounting for 37% of all deaths caused by disaster. (3) In addition to the injury and death caused at the time of the earth movement itself, an earthquake disrupts the community’s capacity to respond effectively. Transportation, communications, and health care systems are typically damaged significantly in the hours and days following the event. As a result, national and international assistance is usually required, since the salvage rate for victims unrescued from a collapsed structure decreases steadily after the first 24 hours after entrapment, international assistance teams and equipment should be on site within one or two days. Unfortunately this kind of response time is rarely possible under present conditions.