------Program code: NS-080620-02744 (what's this?)
Source: CCTV.com
06-20-2008 11:08
Over the last two decades, an average of 200 million people have been affected by disasters every year. With the impacts of climate change now being felt around the world, the next generation will have to deal with increasing numbers of disasters and increasing severity. Will they know what to do to when the next disaster strikes? This week on Earth Report we visit disaster hotspots in South East Asia, Central Asia and the Caribbean, to see how education, both in the classroom and in the community, can make the difference between life and death
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When the Asian Tsunami struck in December 2004 around 200,000 people were killed throughout South Asia, but on one small island, just 40km from the epicentre of the earthquake, almost the entire population survived, thanks to the people’s inherited knowledge of tsunamis, handed down from each generation to the next.
The Island of Simeulue, off the West Coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, is a remote and peaceful place, home to 83,000 people, who mostly make their living from fishing and farming. The 26th December 2004 looked like just another normal day on Simeulue. Eleven year old Anto Suryanto and his friends were on the beach playing football when the island was hit by a major earthquake. The first thing they looked for was the low tide.
Anto Suryanto: As soon as we saw the low tide we knew we had to run to the hills - we were very scared and the whole island was moving.
Unlike most other people affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami, everyone on this island knows exactly what to do when a tsunami hits, thanks to their ancestors. In the local dialect they have their own word for tsunami - “smong”.
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Mr Darmili, Bhupati (Governor), Simeulue Island: In 1907 a smong (tsunami) already happened here in Simuelue, and so our grandmothers always gave us the following advice: if an earthquake comes, we must go and look at the beach: if the sea is at low tide the smong or tsunami will be coming and we must look for higher ground.
The islanders had about thirty minutes to reach the hills. When the tsunami hit, only seven people were killed. The rest of the island’s 83,000 inhabitants were all saved. In neighbouring mainland Aceh, over 100,000 people were killed. And it wasn't just the people of Simelue who escaped from the tsunami – many animals also survived.
Mr Darmili: When the earthquake came, all the buffalo on the beach ran to higher ground - some of them didn't make it all the way. The villagers witnessed it - it's as if the animals were following their instincts.
Though the vast majority of the people here on Simeulue survived, their homes didn’t. The island was strewn with the wrecks of hundreds of buildings and many were left homeless.
Anto Suryanto: Our house is damaged – we didn't have time to save anything, and our neighbour's homes are also damaged. I am lucky because I'm still alive. I still have my father, my mother and my brothers and sisters.
As so many old buildings collapsed, the islanders are now turning to modern anti-seismic construction techniques to make the island a safer place to live and work. Several buildings have now been constructed using new methods that reduce the risk of earthquake damage.
Rebuilding, using anti-seismic construction methods.
Thambrin Nasutin, Simeulue Builder: There are steel wires called spiders criss-crossing the foundations throughout the whole building and there are also steels in the upright pillars called chicken legs which make the building very strong.
Editor:Yang
