Editorial:-
It does not take much to rattle people; and it appears to take just about as much to unravel all claims of disaster preparedness as well. The 5 [or 5.3, depending on which data one trusts] magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in East District shook strong and long on Thursday, but thankfully came early enough in the day for panic to subside while there was still daylight. There have been no reports of the temblor having caused any substantial damage, and while that is welcome, what is distressing is that awareness levels and response mechanisms were found woefully inadequate. Information sharing was lethargic, and while one may explain this to the traditional plodding of the government machinery, what was clearly disconcerting was the quickness with which schools in Gangtok [Singtam and parts of North Sikkim] suspended classes and started sending children home. This was inexcusably irresponsible. To begin with, the earthquake triggered only panic and delivered no real damage, so the schools were not necessarily unsafe for the kids. Also, most schools have an open space in the campus where students could be taken and monitored by teachers and seniors. Sending them home, invariably sent them away to less safe locations with a high possibility that they would have been unmonitored [without any elders around]. What is worse, most kids would have been on the streets, on footpaths and narrow lanes leading to home when the aftershocks arrived. Sikkim is lucky that no children were hurt in this episode, and now that the lesson has been delivered, the planners will hopefully return to the drawing board and draft a proper earthquake drill for schools with a clear list of tasks for the heads of schools and teachers on how to keep students safe. Closing schools and sending kids away is a definite No. This reaction was clear shunning of responsibility by the schools. Worryingly, they managed to do it on a mass-hysteria scale with almost all schools sending kids away. This clearly added to the panic, and also added avoidable worry for parents and wards.
The quake lasted barely seconds, but the fright it triggered in Sikkim, returned with every aftershock. One accepts that the horror of 18 Sept 2011 has heightened the scale of panic response to earthquakes in Sikkim, and it is agreed that earthquakes are nerve-wracking moments. Especially nerve-wracking if one happens to live in the concrete deathtrap that is urban Gangtok, but this is still no excuse for the embarrassing levels of ignorance that continue about earthquakes. Those responsible for earthquake preparedness in Sikkim have clearly failed in their job, because Sikkim continues to collectively find itself wrong-footed when a tremor of any consequence arrives. This is inexcusable for a State that is earthquake-prone.
It does not take much to rattle people; and it appears to take just about as much to unravel all claims of disaster preparedness as well. The 5 [or 5.3, depending on which data one trusts] magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in East District shook strong and long on Thursday, but thankfully came early enough in the day for panic to subside while there was still daylight. There have been no reports of the temblor having caused any substantial damage, and while that is welcome, what is distressing is that awareness levels and response mechanisms were found woefully inadequate. Information sharing was lethargic, and while one may explain this to the traditional plodding of the government machinery, what was clearly disconcerting was the quickness with which schools in Gangtok [Singtam and parts of North Sikkim] suspended classes and started sending children home. This was inexcusably irresponsible. To begin with, the earthquake triggered only panic and delivered no real damage, so the schools were not necessarily unsafe for the kids. Also, most schools have an open space in the campus where students could be taken and monitored by teachers and seniors. Sending them home, invariably sent them away to less safe locations with a high possibility that they would have been unmonitored [without any elders around]. What is worse, most kids would have been on the streets, on footpaths and narrow lanes leading to home when the aftershocks arrived. Sikkim is lucky that no children were hurt in this episode, and now that the lesson has been delivered, the planners will hopefully return to the drawing board and draft a proper earthquake drill for schools with a clear list of tasks for the heads of schools and teachers on how to keep students safe. Closing schools and sending kids away is a definite No. This reaction was clear shunning of responsibility by the schools. Worryingly, they managed to do it on a mass-hysteria scale with almost all schools sending kids away. This clearly added to the panic, and also added avoidable worry for parents and wards.
The quake lasted barely seconds, but the fright it triggered in Sikkim, returned with every aftershock. One accepts that the horror of 18 Sept 2011 has heightened the scale of panic response to earthquakes in Sikkim, and it is agreed that earthquakes are nerve-wracking moments. Especially nerve-wracking if one happens to live in the concrete deathtrap that is urban Gangtok, but this is still no excuse for the embarrassing levels of ignorance that continue about earthquakes. Those responsible for earthquake preparedness in Sikkim have clearly failed in their job, because Sikkim continues to collectively find itself wrong-footed when a tremor of any consequence arrives. This is inexcusable for a State that is earthquake-prone.
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