In Bram Stoker's classic novel, Dracula, the vampire hunter Van Helsing gives specific instructions for how a vampire must be dealt with to prevent it from continually rising from the grave. I sometimes wish there was a similar ritual one could perform to remove bad information from the Internet.
Case in point is the "Triangle of Life" theory that keeps making the rounds after every major earthquake. Like most bad theories, there is just enough truth in it to make it sound plausible. The theory is based on the presence of void spaces during stuctural collapse, small spaces that form as a building collapses. According to the theory's proponent, Doug Copp, teaching people to seek out these void spaces rather than using the standard "duck, cover and hold" technique taught in the United States would save more lives.
There are several problems with this theory:
- Void spaces do form but we don't know if they can be anticipated or if people can be taught to anticipate them during an earthquake. To my knowledge, no research has been done on this issue so there is no evidence that it works.
- We do have research that suggests that at least half of the injuries in earthquakes are from non-structural objects, which duck, cover and hold was developed to prevent.
- The theory is supposedly based on Copp's observations from participating in rescues at multiple disaster sites around the world. However, there is ample evidence that Copp's claims about his rescue experience are fabricated and he lacks credibility.
The two best rebuttals to this theory are a paper written by Dr. Marla Patel, an actual expert in earthquake deaths, and the American Red Cross response written by my colleague and friend, Rocky Lopes.
So please help me stake this vampire - don't pass on Copp's bad ideas and if you get a copy from a friend send them the links above. Now if I can just get rid of the "stand in the door" theory...
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