How can we make earthquakes less deadly?
Robert Glasser, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), explains in this opinion piece how countries such as Ecuador and Japan have invested considerably in building codes and engineering standards, and even "if it is not always possible to avoid the worst ravages of an intense earthquake, we can still do a lot to minimise the impact and save lives".
"The loss of life in Ecuador from its magnitude 7.8 earthquake is considerable, but it is not going to reach the toll of 8,700 as happened in Nepal when another magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on April 25 last year. The difference can at least partly be explained by Ecuador’s greater prosperity and higher standards of compliance with building codes" says Glasser.