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A project ofJ/olunteers

tn Asia

by;

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L.an Davis

Published
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Oxfo,rd Polytechnic
. * Oxfoerd Polytechnic
Headington
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IShelter after Disaster

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Part 1 A \ 1c!c~u4y?tr:jl
tiMi,
.!T. 5...::L, I ...:.
D!YJi[d I,, :: :I :! ] :., \,!.! ,
t iiiT:iLd!

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91
93

Skopjc: I Yugosla~a- 196;

,Mariagua, N~iaragua 1971
Hurrxane Fitl, Honduras 1974
Llie; Turkev 1975
Guatemala -i976
6) Frluli,.Italy 1976
.-lppt~nili.r B Ilaps
1) The incidence of djsaste~rand the
worlds earthquake be1ts 1910-76
2) Map to show vulrterability to
disasters
lridr~v

98
99
100
102
104
106
108
110
113
119:
123

STRATIdNS

Ll i e
17
30 Bay?r pol>,urethanc tgloos tn
\lasa)-a. Niiaragua
18
2 .EFICOR house III Bangladish.
i\l
r
based on mdtger!ous housmg

I8
T 28 L.K~ fertile valley charactertstii ot
7
earthqL$ake fault locatlons
19
_
1 Central-area 3tSkopje thirteen
!ears After the earthquake
.21
;
30 Centre of Winagua three years

l
atrt~ Its earrhqkake
--77
.
: I New squatter housing onsa%nd
b.
.,
5 s; r III Guatemala
(i
32ckf?nt &lift% the ruins Qf?z=..fi~6
33 Village crushed UI Friull earthqua
7
31 A family sorting through ruined
home in San Martin
7
35 Panicking crowds attempting t.o
1 I Palait
Of MlIlu5
3[ II;Ili)xdb.
tl-tlr
8
17
escape from San Francisco
12 KurJ~sh nui clalmlng L~ic tz3rth36 Family after 1965 earthquake in
C)
c+ihc \L;L~tilt \v11lOI All.111
Greece
29
~1.3 Katsura Imperlal Crlla in K>,oto.
3: Emergency shelter in Managua .
SC,
9
Japan
29
38 In flatable grain warehouse
I4 The ruined tov~n 01. Lt<e
10
39 Reconstruction in Guatemala four
15 Bad11 ionstru<ted housmg tr;
days aftersarthquake
31
Guatemala Lit!
40 Oxfam Emergency House-Making,
I1
16 Rdvine housing In Guatemala duty
Unit in Lice
31
13
*
17 Houses wtth thick adobe walls in
4lSafe building techniques shown in
Turkish wall chart
32 b
Tccpan, Guatemala \
12
-37 Model house built by Oxfam and
18 Two-storey squatter houses in
c
\
World Neighbours
36
Ankarg Suburbs
13
43
New
lightweight
roof
to
rep1ac.e
19 Squgt$r housing in KC de Jan 1 13
collapsed tile roof
,
37
70 Constructton ot temporary h
,il;l
44
Rural
housing
in
eastern
Turkey,
in Trasaghis, Frtuli. Italy
14
37
built of adobe with heavy roofs
2 1 Nueva Jutosa, Honduras, b\
45
Family
survey
their
home
after
aitec Hurricane Fiii
15
a
Turkish earthquake of 1976 \
38
72 New and old wnstructiur.
h In
Skople,Yugoslavia
16
46 Transport plane unloading at
73 Tent in use one year afTc1 ;~1ce
39
/ Guatemala airport
earthquake
16
47 Air photograph showing effects of
24 Prefabricated housing tn Lice
17
41
the Guatemala earthquake
25 Modified prefabricated housmg in
48 Night-time home in Gyatemala
ix

bf&g dlsrrlantl~? jc! that truck can

collapssd tile 5oofwith

b2

sl122t1ng

17

UXJ

ironi-i.

73 Historic tasades in Geiona. Italy.

shore up prior to reconstruction
1-3
d\
74 Family in Patzicia. Guaremala.
rzionstrucri*3lg.th2ir house
4-i
5. X shored-up arch in G2mona
-t, Hom212ss ait2r ths Great Fir2 of
43
London
q J l<rnzr~ell;J
jtl~l~~:
J?LiSZci
tJ>
.-I- : TT Wre;ls plan t0r tie reionstruition
Sir. Ferris
q: . Flr\ta
cd! <tLlJ?!li
;7t\\cit
Jt Osttord
~11.the Clt\, ot London. .,
di:
47
;S The destruction of Lisbon
PI]!) tiChI ii
79 Lisbon-rebuilt after 155 earth5-l Floating ei?lergen<I bh2lt2r tor
_

4Y CarJboard drii :arpLiulln homes in

Guarsmala
50 T2nlpLj,:ar\. uje,tJl ;onvcnt atter
rltiocilng 111Trlni&d< Btilii,la
5 I L~~JII:~ O\~;~III ruppl:<s st RAF
._
Brlr2 NOrtOil
Ij

6;
67
67
72
.
73
75
75
78
;9

51
!S FurrherV\xnlpl~~

<)I rnodllied

.r.

01 Compl2ted A Fram2 ~lousmg at

.P
D2nYr;l. Bangladesh
0 ?;,jnY~~dt2nIs in eastern Turkey
b.? Tents in us2 in Lli2 cl$t weeks
3
after the earthquahke
.
6-I J apanisehve
poly t
b5 R2gimenred la>,<ut:k)f
Pedrcj. Sx;lt;ipeqt
66 Sears High Walli Ch ~ 2
jn Masaya
V
67 Layout of tents at Masa;
Nicaragua, designed by Fred Cuny
68 Emergency camp in ChimaI&enango
69 Emeigency camp in Buia, Friuli,
l,---<-ioui morTths after the:earthquake
70 Evacuation of Darwin following
Cyclone Tracy
71 Rebuilding a home in Guatemala
s
city
72 Man in Guatemala replacing his

i I)

53
51

*
in San Francisco
1 79
83 Improvised horlft7s in GoiAn Gate 1
80 f

88 Huts ib Park PresidioDrive

89 Tempdrary h&use beingmoved to

83,

uctecj after ,the

43, -*
earthquake of 1908
91 Improvised shacks in *wrok&a.ma _ f .. J:
cerqetery
,
&>8& BL
2 Impro$sed homes in Tokyo,, 1923 r 3856
) ,? 85
,~~~~e~~~~e~~n~~~,Yboomb57
57
$1
63

86
damaged Berlin
*
95 Temporary homes en rdute to *
.i-88
their destination ;
,I .
96 Ctesiphon huts built in vast .
88
quantities prior to DDay
97 Squatterhomes in-Dacca,
: 90
Bangladesh
_,

9.8 House imprdvised after Chimbote

earthquake of 1970
I 92


ct\tcri&d

f;rrtrilres. and in a

,.
I~!.l<l.W~!? -1:lCC\[I,1

tcllts
\1.1;, .I 1I! hc*\ ll!~11~.11IIl~
i ,~ilic:.\i\l!ii\

Ir!

cJTlhlll;lkLS

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131Li~r:illl

IF

Ilap

06

-.-9s

uthe&-t Command, Panama: 54, Building

es%#; 63: JonCavanagh; 64, Fujimori
Kog?o-fu Ltd., Japqn; 65, SIPA Press;
70, John Fairfax Sr.Sons (Australia) Ltd,;

wlth the~t~ult that .I large nurnher of

photographs wiihrn thttbook came trom this

ot photogrllphs to &tarn tull reproduction

nghts, but rn rh? ver) f2w rnstanies where
thrs process hasfarled to find the ori@ral _
agency or photographer, t offer my apoltip
other acknowledgements: Frontispiece,
.
Brat fur die Welt, Stuttgart, 2, 3, 4,

-r

Guildhall Library, City of London; 78, Prints

Division; New York Public Library (Astor,
-?-
Lenos a&I Tilden Foundations); 80,86,87,

88, 89. California Historical Society; 81,83,

,
Bear Photographic,Services, San .Francisco;

13, 37..Camera Pr
1, Ministry of
tlement, Ankara,
ey; 45. Keystone Press Agency Ltd-

, Aichives: 96, Sport and General Press Agency;

98, Barchild Construction UK Ltd. and

J ^

.;,

At?KbiOWLED-GEMETdTS

* .

own. but &erc 1 tl3ve fGiej~t0 do so, F+

0ttLerIIll; apolGg1es.
c
I rnust

ttl~nk,

too.

the

oi Oxford Bulytcchnic.
?4ritllttlcfilre
tc) par-su2
aJteritlon.~~d

gcnt?rously
thctsP

studits
.they

SW-t;, and

studklt8

~,

The Department df
splird

me

with

have

for

B year

undhidgd

p&wed

to

br: 2.

ionsla-tt sthkilus arili,c,IIc:uurllgeineIIt. Mure *

rec~rltl>~ I must rhnk the staff and students
011Jil? Pubtidling Court 31 rhe P;,lytect~nic,
AblLi Mrs.

P11.yll1s

tlulnb~ltol~.

vdll~,. typ&t

Ihe

haphazard
V,U,Ls i)f yoik~rlg. TIIC 6ina.l forh ot thus book
IS :I tribute to ttlelr &iIl rtgci cntt~ikxtsm.
Lastby, rn> gratitude to my family, who
have iume to see haters in 3 rather
persond tight; without their patience and
love. my mvGlver~enr m this project would
Itavt: c2used lung ago.
.
.
inaliuhcrlpr.

Ian

1or tolerating

rtq

Dqll

O\ford
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January t 977
-2._

,
it Is rhe tipt rria]or dlsasrer of the last five
,
Jears where winte r,CIhn&altitude
exposure problems have &come ihe
d?minant concerns of thdie invrilved in the
1
rellet: operation. And since this topic ilas
.
always been one of the crucial questions in
such research.-it is particularly frustrating to
pur the cap on my pen, when many of my ,
sthrrments wl1.l be challenged in the light of
9
these events.
Thus. however, 1s the nature of the
problcrn. cvents wll tC;1~lhus lessons and
tltese lessons will overturn our tidy
iort~lusions. and, I hope. lead to betier
solutions.
1

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~INTRODU~TION
.

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recogmsmg that the prune focus is that of

e.
.AIIJ ccJ!jidrrutlon ()I ernergenc shelter
shelter needs. immediately after dIsasteri.
pro~islon rollok~~lng,disasL,erSprompts the
I have not restricted myself to natural:
tmrnedlate obseT\;lt!on thar rherr must be
disasters. but my experieae has direcM the
few subleits In the ~+(ole~field oi building-.
study away from the man-made disasters L
on LVI~IC~so much elfort has b?en expended.
so much mtine) spent. and ,~t, paradoxically. such as wars .or refugeestuations, which
a. have certain u~iYu~~~~~L;t-istiCs.
Lvhere so little is really, known.
This modesr studs- is an attempt to redress
Having established immelli& shelter As - 9.
this sltuatton. It ~omes at ;1rime when.there - my central concern, I Iiave deliberatiiy
o brought into t&&picture the pre-disaster., ii& been the most ion;entrated snalysis of
I
this problem eker ~rrempteci. The Office of v context! Withis Par , I h&e attempted to
the Lnlted SatIons Dls&rer ReIlet%-oCtXFtb+iti -q/p:
-1 f-i ritir to the 6
, -
fsurdlnA[or (L:YDRC)) 111C;erleva leas recentlv
ptie is a *rilclA factor and may tstt
~_~
been mahrrg tl;C first .;,nternaJl&al-study & ~ ,th$,actuaI t;rau/ e & the disasrer..tfi Part g, 1
this probkrp. ,arid by the time that this book
.; havk %uf%n
diagrammatic form thi , - ;
1spubllshcJ I hope thairhtS yarlous questions widespread myths which exist aboutdisaster 3
1 pose 1vd1have been answered ;1svarious
shelter, together with the facts which, I hobe,
1Rrns otessential evidence are protiu4.
b
will dispel these false beliefs. Then, in Part - -
Despite ;i sraliual ilarlficArlon*uf these
_

III, 1 !iave commentean

the diverse ,
Issues
our
Collective
knowledge
is
still
4
strategies that are likely to be pursued ifi tliq
_.
im~lt&L and the% are slgnlticant gaps iri ofir ~ immediate aftermaih. Once again, I have
understarrding. FQr example, we stall kno
: .
avoided berqg boxed in to a time phase
I
little abovt the precise wags in which l~+aI
called th.e rdief period. Any study 6y these / .- .topics rapidly SHOWS
that relief, rehabilitation
csmmunitles function. when they tackle
- their relief or reConst+ction. We kn& little
aRd reconstruct-ion, though defiii& phases,
about the usefulriess 6il%ong-term effects of- / constantly overlap, and the immediate
+.. c
our aid, whether it be tents or shelters. And c&cisi&s made within days of a disaster haie
there are geographicrtl/ar~-~s,.sl)ch as Russia
,a habit of influencing loAg-term events.
* #n
Finally (an&peMp
perversely) I have
and China. where the approaches to relief or
left the historical section io,Part IV at the
reconstructio!! are-virtuallyel-lknuw~ to us.
.
erid of the bodk. En this way I havkbeen
:? .OveraIi, thisstudy will .reGl.eLtthe bias of
being @ed largely on docments i;l English, able tc rook--back_and reflect whether the
and also the:bias of, being written in England,~ patterns of events I have attempted to define
are purely mid-twentieth-cer&i-y+z@%&, -._.
at a safe, perhaps TOOsafe, PistaGe from the
or are more deeply rooted.
---.; _
\sulneiable conditions I have-destiribed. It is
:SY---::-\ I wti valui the patience af readers. in this*I) ah iimited by&e extent of my own first. m ,, first veti&re into p&t. I hope that this &ok
Ihand experience, which is of just eight
will produce corrpborative evidence, aflcl
disaster situations, most of which were
where an ignor&it dogmatism has crept into
2 earthquakes.
as I will be grateful Qohear cgunierSince this is probably the first g:ok
erits. Both iienecesay-for
~the-. .~ ~~ ~---_-_
witten specifically on this theme; I h:ve
,
deliberately painted a broad canvas, while
development of our knowledge.
c
d
XV
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.L..we
This-is
the.worId..
. _ make
c : guilty of, our-disayters the sun; the
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1 tb~;&xceUentfgp~per)-of

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a

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,mobti, &d @Ce@us:, as if xie were @lairq by.. nepessity ; fools by3eavCnly gompdsion; knaves,
zr ,?
\
II
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9
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0
90
1
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thieves, and treafhers <*:sphericSl predomi~~~ce:druis,
I&s, &l adulterers by,an :

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enforced obedience of planetary,

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From~marrs .&rlrest &rs. hi: very survive

.a+
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sum..ti#X2-I
1
million
js
,beings+n
t
on
the
.:
:.
..
rne~&al
T&&es .bairage &-rd.fioad p rotection FJ
- . powers. water; wmd. s,ur,+fire a& %arth,
-~~ures.,~~n~~~~~ous,~as observed that all /
r
4 &+hi IS yital for his&isten&
and each can in thatis iee$ed &a combination of th&
: ia ~
tulflt&fe-iten his p&y ,hoid 0; r-he planets
o tdctorsi
:
high tide kvels, a high freshwxte;
2-2 6 ,- --. s - .
.
suf
race:
_
=
Zfow dawnt$e siver. and a SLurge of water up
I,i&e $lllamescaused by metiorological
P When &e .drizzle.-becomei a cascade.,or
,
the breeie.$ilur~.~ane.m~
is int;olved in hh conditions in?he NorthSea (3j!If these 1
.
_ .I
. .
I<
classi$ struggle w.ith.the-elements. ar;d,.he Ii& - conditio& wereLtoecome, tol ge$her before the
.
-J+hames barrageis complctecl%l9~0
viewed die process in-v&iqtis ways: 9, ati act..&.&
then
3
f
God,=&
L
d
bfJu@.ge,mdnt,
an
omen:
0,
an
act,o
on onacould face a majo; diaste;, which in 1
3 P
xI
quate
the
Wqyds
linderwriter.
-.
rr-ronetar~
tern& alone has been estiwted at --
\
- For smesne $viq within the
.
22,000 milli$r in damagej.to property.
*I
c
c co&parative
security
of
northern
Europe-,
7
b
-It -is aIsbsignifrcant.~that th;is sisk has been
, .. c, :
, Jwheie the libel &aster% more like
$eadily.w,orsening be&se (
- refer to the coJlapse%Ps~e_rmg thati
I?irst~ the fact that Lo ndonDis sinking on. its
.bPicks and mortjar.!) it is tixtrkmely
clay bed, as afrksult of a shght tilt.af the - .~=.,*difficult toappreciateihe extent o-f
?ou th-eastern region, Seoo&Il&, tides are-
J k.
which many communilties face:To .: .a. 1%-..,_:risingrin heightj an:& thir(ly, &riIding has =_
_.\
3.
- understand this I will c(iscuss~avulnerable 9 progressively engulfe&th~trad.ition~. flood
:
. ..
., ,. . n 1 .
:, 3,
4. - siruarion u-r M~ancP, jlnd the way it is>&ingB, absorptjon areas, such as the Kerr+ and Essex
. tre+-d. + . X
marsh,es;
In
tech&&I
Iangyage,
the
heard,
$
a-1. Pew realise that wit bin ceZraI &on-don - or State 8f v&-rerabtii*ty, as @tsotmany psrts
I
P
CI the@ IS a3very se.rious risk of floobihg.This
-I .i@Q ,>
- of&e world, is inc$e&-$
I has bee-r?l&ow~n,for generations, and n&$.a
London is vu1 .prable ,tot+ 6ne.,i%rtt.$ I, - :.
-, -.:j .i, *?he*itafic npbers in parenthsses refer to the Refkences l&e 2 ,$@&etical@.
J-

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wltti tlie Disaster Kcw;4rc.ll Lnit at Bradt.ord

Lrllwy~~.

ha

\llggestd

that

the

hst

ot J cilsaster 15the interface

IxtivwtI J riarurat or man-made haemr4t(for
etmple a11earthquake) and ;I vulnerable ,+
;t)tid~tii)ri (hddly ionstruzfeci houswg 111a
:.i
Ci;lll#~~~~l1S
I~~~lltlMl)
(6Yj.
IIIS lntrrt;lce 1sshdwn in Diagram .,l.
The tl~~ckiprotectiun mgasures in the
,,

Jtltm1t1~~ri

I
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4e
.c

1.

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&T:
I
La J.
#y-belbw
r
-5L&e, %-kg\. .tdI(~r$jg the w-t&rta~z ofseptember 1975. Note the vfc@erab!e site
9
.
.
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L
j (1j
, i.%xk fL)rrnatic)ns

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..-6 Fishermens houses bnithe banks of a nver in Seoul, Korei

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5

.
e\ery

t\Wnt4-tivZ

plait2

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the

>-ttJrs.

Thh

inf~o~~ctl~~*l

isntq
iitalien

the

onl>~

Another
that
-

Y Hall River slurp h S&l,

Qfhe 1963 HatI River fl&J

~~olisir~g
unsafr

Jraditiond
_

Korea. The slum reside

o w

,I. . .t

is built
.

exception
OI\ stilts

is. ihe
to

furm

yithsta~d

ofhouse

flooding.

a.
were f@rceti jkom their shanties dtiri&
_
n
-2
I

I z-i-

. ..O

10 Hqtsing in TrkitiaL ,Bolivia, with raiied plinths to brotect buildings from Jioodirig. Ii $d.
irlstaucet-e flooding was so iqtensive that its level rose above the elevated fleer level.
D
.I
.-, ,
w
.
~7
,
Y ,J
5
&+
*
D
\
9
-J . rj +I

/C

.<
*

I1 The-Palace ofMi&s,.&nossos,
colu?nns

Crete. Nofe thg:tiooden @fbeam

*i, -=b

/-

But %lerethe hazard is probaby; an annual

(or hi-annual) event, that coincides with a
monsoon season and as such becomes a
predictable everyday occurrence within
everyones memory; and therefore it is a
design factor considered whetieach house
c goes up.
The final exception is the modification of
building techniques followisg c&stiuWional*
failures in disasters. Historical evidence of
this emerged when Sir Arthu; Evans
excavated the Palace of Knossos in Crete,
uncovering a structure birilt about-l650 B.C.
The palace was probably built shortly after *
some catastrophe, perhaps a vojsanic
eruption or an earthquake. This tiay be the
reason for the existence of tht ,timber ring
beams that occur throughout the palace: a
f&n oflateral bracing to hold the structfirij
together, in the event of earthquake forces.
Professor Nicholas Ambradgxs of Imperial
College, London, has written:
i
,
After destructive earthquakes, towns
8.

.I,

,,

y/

dn the wall behin!Jhe \,~

a.

I
I\
weye often rebuilt on a.n extensive
plan with marked changes in buildcng
l\
!
techniques.such as unusual types of
foundations, consisting of a grid of

s wooden&ams on which.the structures

are built, the intrp d=++@uctlon of timberbracing of houses and the abandonme3f,
of oidinary unreinforced bricktiosk. k
is often assumed that these changes are ,:
due to techniques bfought%to a region ;
1 by new seftlers, or by invaders.,This is
not always the case (7).
.
,
I
Ambrasiys proceeds to show that timber : .,_,i__j
b.ra%ng techniques have been%ad$ted in _..,;, .
areas without local thbei supplies ti order
-to produce Safe structures, ??G?e areas 4 4
include Anatolia, Crete and No$hern
I.:.:!:
Pakistan, and archteoltigical ,evidetice.goi$$.$~.,
back over 2,000 years pro&s this point.
(_..
The traditidnal ja$tiese house &ls often

been cited;, as,an example/of earth.quskeproof -construction, Evidence on thi&sue isslight,

bvt it is conceivable @t the lightwei$hf i(
.
,>.
* i.
,F:
.-
,. /
b

_1,,

*
b

a,
,-j\;

14 Ruitld

0
._:.
.=2-i

torvrr ojLice, Turkey

.
To summarise, the obstacles that stand in.
1s 3.5
I,*, IOO/ir,
93,.
the
way of house builders responding to
Tile 2i;lit populutil)n of Lice prior to the
these risks are: the long return period of
farrhquakz !j very un;ertain, but it is likely
many
forms of disaster; the resistance that z
to \~e reasorlably ilose to the census figure of
.conimunities+ave to moving away to less
8.300. Therefore 1 in 6.8 died. This is an
rlxtremely hi,gh ratio. as is-the ratio of deaths vulnerable locations; a natural resistance to
unfamiliar - and probably more expensive .-_.
to houses destroyed? and it indicates the
eutremevulnerability of the population in building techniques; and the difficulty of----=
education when disaster victims may view
this region.
these events as the will of Allah, with the
hs also results
But the number of
reaction who are we to prevent such a
_
frvma*cultural factor. The disaster occurred
judgment
or
omen?
at 12 noon on 6 September. This is the eve
But as we have seen, socie ti& after a
of the Moslem feast of Ramadan, and each
disaster
have often taken action, such as the
house was full of women and children
wooden ring beam in the Palace of Knossos,
preparing the traditional feast. Thus the
bye-laws after the.Great Fire of Lorrdon and
casualties were almost exclusively female,
since the men were in the fields or in the
the JIVames barrage now under construction.
.All ff these activities are responses to known
mosques (23, 24)
It is clear that there are many cultural a?@, hazai-dsand previous disasters. Clearly, these
economic obstacles that prevent the
\&e positive step s forward, but it is tragic
instigation of sensible preventative and
that the mechanism that stimulates action is
mitigation measures. And in recognising that
nearly always-the manifest failure of previous
the target social group isthe extremely poor, methods of construction. Fo; the future.we
it is necessary to reflect tharfit may cost
can hope that Changes will take piace before
I.
c,
15% more to construct a safe house (60). ,
the eve.nt.
1I
L..L
m
t
+--__

Disaster, poverty. and urbanisation

._;

Lf an identical natural phenomenon affected

Taking, for.example, an earzquake, Ge
three different geographical locations, it is
can observe t-hat if it occurs in an
.
conc,eivable that there would be three
W,unpopulated area it IS clearly
,: not a disaster
different results.
but is better described as a natural A.
4
:
10

,!/
-

-..

*
.,

-l
%
<ity.+where hrtikdic!gs Ilave been web designed
Fur ela*~i~~e.,l?uusi*~gin CuateA&~ity
I
with eartilcliiake-ltl,~~~~nt i~~nstruitlon.
-WE, vulnerable bn Kvo counts. First, it$?ts
nmade
in adobe. a form of dried mud, and
there will ;tg;lin be s~)uit dilrna~e
b
11
t
ir
will
?I.not Jyh2;IdssltleJ ;lj ;t disJ3te!-. ~.
this material, when used in unrelnfo?ced
1
Fm~llly. there IS the tamihsr P;irt~~; ,of ~1 walls. 1slethal in earthquake zo&es. Secondly,
:earthqu;tke in J rspicilh- expancllng <it> ut the rnmy~Xurban squatters died on the exposed ,
C
steep slopes or ravines. 1nFvitably thousands
developmg world. There the result is \
y
L\.,d~e3 as landslides took thetr houses down the
extensive &unage md many iasu~ltles. A
I ~3G~es($0). This is a characteristic pattern i
suitable definition ~vould be ;L cilsa5ler,
N the wn
poor possessing the worst land in
.
posshly Z c+tstrtiphe.
*
,Here we r&turn apam to Di3srtim 1 and
see the relatlo&lp
of hazard to vulnerability.
~The~~ond~ti~~n ofvulneiability may relate to
badly~~onstru~ted bulldiugs or it-may relate
to the siting of settl$nients
or most likely

16 Ravine hoi&@ in &atemala

city

disasters take place. In a recent &es of

studies conducted by the staff pI the
Disaster Research Unit of Bradford
A
University, direct relationships, are &tabIished
between disasters and poverty (89, 100). 9, s
This team has produced statistics that .*
clearly show a significant increase in disaste;&occurrence during tlxe past fifty years. They *
point out that there js no evidence of
Q 0
3
.,?
significant change in geological or
climatological,factors; and therefore reasons
-fwqthe iac~re,qe must be sob&t elsewhere: o
.
+<
b
.a
If the probabiljty is constant then .*
,logicBlly the explanation, of disasters.
must be sot&t in.an explan:atic& of ,w I
the. growing vulnerability ofthe
I
O.
population to extreme physical events . . . 1 T$ouses :-. it is known that the,freguency .of natural..
of thick ccuvuG
L
disastersis increasing especially in

ip i zlcorded thrdr3ghout
undeveloped countri&. Indeed the
increased vulnerability of people to
population continue!
resources cant
extreme physical events&u-r be seen as
intimately connected wiih the
,Tmiriority,
the
;
continuing process of underdevelopment
drops for mucl
l

_.~._
,
<

_-_
/

,.

._

._

I=*... .

i
Ric?s

infamouS

Jkl*ClaS

alpine

d!fficalty:

hnt

qhP;itfc:-s 111much
!?azrlrdoL~l;..~C70C!pl,?iiiS.

ctimb slope? 07
the

ot Asia

poorest
live

kbiin

on

The poor are

---_._often c$e&ly~&$%r.eof their owh

.
vulnel;ability. .Why&e would the
devahted $tlh dwellers of Guatemala
City Yefer to the:earthquake [of

I Y Hillside. :fhvelas : Squatter housing in Rio de Janeiro, all extremely vulnerable

a.
..
%
w

earthquake oj-May I9 76

..

,i. *
:

14

/
.a
,3

0.I
:

:i
.*i
*

;.
I

A.l__
A....~

February 19761 as a class-quake?

(100).
The Unit&i Nat iLns have obtained
verrfi;atron for thus stats ot aff,rrra. They
.
find that 055 of all deaths Jirtxtly
attrrburable to drsssters oicur wrthin
developing countries. llle remaining 5% of
dtiaths oizur widen the well-puhli~ised
disasters of ttre Je+elopeJ world i 70).
There are srgniticant differences in the
Way developed a~td developing iountries
sppru~~ch drsasters. These relate both to predisaster ctintrr)l measures and to their
approazh td rellel and re2rJnStruLtion. In
very broAd terms the disrinctic)n can be
sumarxised by saying that rn the developed

world we seek& material solutiotzs, while

in the devel0pj;lg .world the solutions are
primarily soqial ~~qeechanisrns.
Fred Cur& (a
world auti%rity in post-disaster housing and
shelter needs) observed to me that in the
technological world we attempt to co~~trol
& phe&meila themselves. We build dams
to control floods: we seed hurricanes with
chemical bombs dropped out of aircraft to
try to dissipate their fury: and we pump
water into earthquake fault lines to lubrjcate
them and prevent tremors.In contrast, the p
people of the developing world must take
individual aCtions to mitigate the results uj.
the p!~e~tomena. These may in&de building
stronger houses or moving to live in a safe
location.
~
de

..1

?I
,LJ

L
I 5

Cultura

&ember 1974,
21 The village oj- La Nueyp~,-Hunduras,
Btti
-._
showing contrash&g forms of new housing - concrete block provided by ??~-RKiid
traditional thatched homes
*15
,

-_

/fi

y
.

,..
_ -- - -r..+:sT+,
-. .A>;. : .m~b&>... *a,

,..

_ _ ---

_._---

.r 4
1

,- Any s\udy-of housing or shel$r&ovisi&

~Yf&s,t be@ with an ,analysis of *h-at goes to
:~Jti&$~,
fno>mal housing in a given
;
community; hoksing that relaw
be the starting
CL&J
-Gnvestigations
and It should r&t
be viewed, as has-so oftenhap$e.ned, as a..
4? OW-priori t-y-concern.
1 =-. -.-Amos Rapaport has written! -* . ~L

It&clear-thaTdEe need to understand the%nderlying structure ot%zt&&e and its

I relation to the pky_sical forms b@forFw5
can design. ~~is_$~r,&xl@i%%~
*Q+:7#.
sp.e$fit-r~th&+lian general, both for
c
z$&i n and implementation,~and
open-*
+LhLe&~.&~~
I
end@nessK.ay, be, an important
consideration, We must study the
vernacular forms since they show most
clearly the relatiods between life styles,
values and--phJydcal form, therelat .n of
social structure to dwelhngs, dwe--FT..ings - p
to the larger environment and so on. The
traditional housing and settlement forms,
and their associated social and cultural
patterns, should be seen as the point of .:
departure rather than being ignored (78)
22 Skopje, Yugoslavia, showing the contrait
betweerl the tra+ti@nal old town and the
reconstruction which &ores local
traditions
.

Several questions must be aske.d on this

issue. If housing is vulnerable t.o disaster risk,
what then?%Can changes bg made in house.
.

23 Lice, Turkey. This photograph was taken one year after fhe disaster; the tent is still in use,
which probably indicates that the house is too small for an extended family. The bullock
outside the house shows that the ownershad taken their animals with them to the new
,
location
,.
.:
16
e
.

..

24 Prer;?bricated hc&ses~~~L$>eVV
Tufie+x-. 1,500 oj- these were built within si.~ty &vs of: the
1 F 9>,
~~r-;hyuak~ i/z Sepremh_rr.,l$J3. fSet Ill. 8$r traditionalhousing)
:* *
./

u.

-7jlPrej~bn~cated housing irl Lice, Turk&, as modified b,v the

1
.door and coverirlg fix- arlimals

occupdht;

to

give

.I

a prqected

fio&..

..% /
I),.,
9
1

~basic
forms
of
response.
*?.
form+?har Goid disturbing the subtle
*Fi~t&ere
are forms of housing dr
relationships described bl, Rapaport? Further,
shelter which either ignore this entire issue ,F,qV~S.....-+
-110~ far do these cultural values apply in the
aftermath of a disaster? Are they niceties that. or deliberately atte.~~~.~o~~rnodiij~-th~~---~--~3
can be disregarded in the race Ior &rviv~~~~~,;~S~;~r;ulluzral-h$E5f?he
ocyupants. An example
3
of this process is when officials have
And who are the m ..;sw.i-~able.pebpTe-ho

elmeT.vr
I
--7
L +
aitempted to rehguse reluctant disaster
5
1 poeiciesl If outside agencies or
._,
victims in *western-sty@ prefabricatedhouses
,B Y,-,
personnel are jnvolved. how can they avoid
,:<I
totally
alien
to
traditional
patterns
(9,
23,;24,
transplanting whole set5 .of cultural values
1
59;.841.
into an alien situation? (19).
A.,
Se~orully,
therehave
been
attqmptsto
I shall be cq;stantly rethrning 10 this key
*s I/ ! :I
issue throughout this book. We shall see three produce VniJersal solutions. These hav:

9
a_

y-9

:a '
_ '. 1 P.

",S. . .

. - - H, lnst i~lfdr h-1,c.FICOR, a Chrisrim rrIiefcr)tlsorcu!!n itl-Bcltlgladesh, for a toral cost o~C5Zv
:!I f v -1. 711~~ttk~llnique 1su Jt~~~e~loprnrt~~
ofe.risrhg I~ousing ~eclwiques in Bangladesh
\
\
111.c
lh
.
\
., L ,*:pv .

ignored the cultural issue altogether, or else shelter that fullyiecognise these cultural
assume.$ that peoples iiving$atlerns are
b ..
issues and yet try to modify housing
-,
rn;re(,or less identical thrpughout the wor1.d. techniques where traditisnaI, patterns have
produced unsafe homes. E$amples of this
One such product has been used in the,
.
mountains of Peru and Turkey and in the ,, process are currently in progress in
,%_
Gua.!emaIa and Bangladesh,f20, 33, 41.. 1: ;
tiOpiCai plains_ofNicaiagus frl, 29, 41).
4
_
-~--7?iir#y, there have been attemptsat
XX,,
1
. ,,lp
* .r. -
j. \
(i
Y
*_
*<
.z
\
,
\a . ,x-X
-8
\
I
=e
.\ j

Ctisualties and damage

- (1~...
-1t -

: .-kx,
_>,
-\,-,,_

.FL

.I

Ir is a rather Zruel twist of fate that peopl,e

,for water for flocks of sheep,,orYheremay -7
are so oftz~dmvn.
as by a magnet, to the + be an abundance of fish in therivqr that is
very area where heir lives will be cut short,
..
-apt to flood. The most lethal magnet is,
or where they will see their homes
.\
probably the city. 4n the process of
.A,
,
demolished.
..~.,,
a urbanisation people have to leave the land
-\
Earthquake fault lines otJ3cnproduce
(as mechanisation of agriculture devours
gushing jprings of water. and in an arid
their jobs) only to live &the dangerous J.
clim3te people will naturally gravitate to
slopes of a Rio or Guatemala city.
these locations. A good ek9mple of this is
* -~
So, when we look at the statistics of .
Lice. the Kurdish town set on the lower
death and damage, we.are left with one
slopes oi,the Tiiuras moklttiins, which was
conclusion: they are all increasing, and this,
devastated by an earthquake in September
is-in__direct response to urbanisation.. To put
on measures
;
-- 1975 (24). I have already referred to the
factors which draw people to flood pl&x.
with the .
andalso to the
In recent years studies have been made of
families iit tie 0
two major cities (both of which suffered
d*l,mocations
for-their homes..
* disasters during this century) to see tihat
.Parldoxi2ally, and Tragically, the major
scale of casualties and damage would result
force that creates the magnetism of
if earthquakes of identical intensity were to
vulnerable situations is the basic human.need
-.-5

,
recur in the near future.
: of surviiral. This m&y .operate in the search

I/..,?.

,;

,-.

!g

,;

.*i

. .

-,A j& $actors tl&tarca;;s&. &~~&&&

: 1
Toky~.t~grow,a-@ many, but the$&$:,.
;

~clud~,fb~~ed~a~~,sur~e
ofpopulation
\
,,
2
a , Ithat appeir$ tofollow,dis&ters.
Skopj&q.- 4 b
The Japanese.e@hquake prediction
0,
!y
&n&u&
and more r&ently,, Guatemalicityi i.
centre has made 3 similas extrapolationfor
s , Tokyo. Thdr-e the results are far more serious? have.grown. as a re@lt of .tie~s&lden+rflux,~ L_1

following their earthquakes. ->le, re~sonsa;e

_ * 1 &ce the population has grown by thirty
obvious:
, J re&ns&uction
,
- _ __ wori?&rd wages that 1
n
:.,
t,ties since 1923,
D
4
I
A*
,p
s
/)
LL
~
I

E&hqu&e
of 1906
Estimated consequences of; ; I.,
:
- j . >
--we .s - \
0
i?
.
earthqua-ke ibnear future ,@jj - 1 i ~,
i
z
8. =
.
-rJ
t :
.
.
=,
_7 ,>
.L,
.
,
I
, .Li
3
,
fi.
.;
?
4._...,,/-3+
3
k
_
- : --m
.= ic a,>,-y 0
-0
,!*3 (NC ,cte;, - I
,e
.. i Scale, of Earthquake 8.3 (Richter)
I 9.
b
.
.*
Lay-.;,~I.
\. B
., J &3 .,* _, /!S J
3
.
,
.
1 * *>,9.h * 3
0
* d
.^ i? .,
i
*

i
4oo,cko
?, 1OO,OOOavk.ra&l
conurbation
.
- a- : Populatio+l:
5
ii
1
*.
1
.
..
f
.,A_
7
_
,j
...*. z
,
*
f>
>
_c
c
v$-,.- I
I.
n%
I
?_
~Lye
8>7YO(27,iOO
iiijfired P , , , ::
_ D&As:.,
_r
f 5tJO
,
,

..

$lome-less:
t
?
-Entire commercial and.
1e 100,000 homes unusable . - 9
,I
. -_ industrial centre destroyed.
(
.
55% of all housing units _ cI
, 0
> -.
&.
0
.:
- ,:destroyed. _
L
3
I
-

Damage 1
. ,o.,
>

* t -.
.

*
.?.

. 6s.

(
,..

.\

,.;

1_
,

n&-am

.
\

4. - tCa=alty anddamhfe projection: Sin Francisco

_,
4 ~1
1
,5
,.
:
D
.
*
Estimated consequences of
Earthquake and Fire
d
,

, earthquake in near futu,re

_I
of 1923
.,53
i
-,
j! i
;
..I \
i
i@+
a
II
4
ii.3 (Richter) , __,
Scale of ecarthqual$
n
.
1 x
C
:%,
<
/
*
.C,
c ?40()00() i
*
_
12 million &&all conurbation.

Deaths:
7.
,

z
If the epicentre is under Tokyo,, :, :
40% of,+ll Tokyos,.
-pb$il&ngs destr$yed, burning estimates suggest total destnil ction. in. /
&out 7 sq. miles of the down- 1.2 mile iadius ofepicentre;: jog, ,,/c :.
;
destruction,in 3.1 mile : radius. itli;
town are& Approx. $3<, t
P
figures assume no fire; dd, ) ;
billion US.

,
3
/Y
$1
r.
/ ;_/; Q:s(,
a?.. _ ,
1 \
i
r,
/
l
., ,:.
/./
1.
Casualty and damage phjectkwO Tokyo
r
:
. n. .
- hl
f,,,
.
.
,,.,.I
,i*
I
.
:
d^ ,:/ . A
w . i
,
..-\iie,
,7/ , _._ -- /
i , ! , ,.
I- ::>.6
h/i_
_

,
A
.
>
Diagram 5.
.

-/r

20

...
\;-milli~~n. .Aiii;i~tt statiSt.icsfor. disasters ;flre 1 * the west, Nurtiuimptonfto the n*orth and
, <
x$~cmel:, ditXc$t t5 obt;lin; but wk*ar,e
: London to the east. If one-sixill of Britains ; ,.
: now iertaini~. \vii;nessing ;1rqpid escalation , pbpulaii& were homeless: this would
:
I
?_of iahal
ties.
.
h . --A
amount to a higher total. than the entire
%.
*
populatfofi
of Gf&ater Lolldon,
The;in- \v~ t;lke~on& mAj,;t jisabt<r like
:A
the Guate&Q,+l earthquake\ of February
appro.ximately 9.3 million people.
j ,i .!n Guatemalajone in every 332 people
1976. ;Ib&,t h%OcSOdwelling &its were
@t,.:destro)red, in Gua&>nala city.(+O% of the
_
was killed. If this ratio of loss to total
&&Is housing stock),0 add&&i1 163,000
populationwas sustained.in Brilain, 241,000
&$$>veCsS destroyed i uraloar& (35% OF
woul$have been killed. Finally, in crude
i
/
1, 1&.%
-e
\

29 Ii&& centraf areaS af Skopje, Yugo

_.
;i \

49

erthe earth&lake
\\*

,a<-., ., .,
21 : :

worlds population. are living in .the

/
s
financiazlterrns, a disasrer.on the Guatemalan
developing,w&ld.
It
is
apparent
@at
d$asters

J
5scale in Britain would cause damage.% r,
and the damage t,heT*cause ati agreatly
equivalent to &l 1;939 million (one-eighth of
.
neglected
factor which i&bits t.he:,economic
our GNP),

Since it is difficult to relate figures of this growth,of vQnerable%ountrtes c?Q/.

_.jOnef&ther.~aspec.t of the damage caused
magnitude to anything tangible, it is worth
by disasters need.s to be e&?nined...This,is,
.I
. d
saying that, at 1975 prices, the total
projected cost for building Britains new city, disruption and the time needed .for full 11
:
recovery. On my visits to eight pla&that ,?
Keynes (for 250,000 people) was
?+
.,
. $ilton
*, ..... i--:&1 ,QO@million. Therefore, if a disaster
had.been devastdted:by disasters, my over- .i---*&,
L__
riding impression, was that the recovery lags /
.i- :.~\~\,,$fected Britain in the same ratio as that -o-ffar behind the optimistic speeches that the
I.
,, Gu,atemalait~would cause damage (in
I
politicians are wont..+mak+in
which they
,rllate&l terms)..equivalent to the cost of %
promise
a
new
city
in
five
years
(or-whatever
1
I... .@iQdin&weIve cities - or developing
period will elapse before the next election).
&n&de
twelve times over.
For example, Skopje.was l&-geIy destroyed
Thisis a-rather long-drawn-out way of
\
in 1963, and it received aid on a massike
C-*:.saying that the poorest countries are least
international scale, and also from within
able to affo.rd iheir heavy losses,whidh in *
.
Yugoslavia.
Yet
despite
this
help
Skopje
is
:

V
relative
terms
are
enormous.

c
*.. \ ._ At present there are fifty to sixty
still unfinished. By the time, completion
+Xeveloping countries which. are characterised. 1omes there will be children fifteen years
5
- as m disaster prone. I have attempted to .
old, born after the earthquake of 1963
showthis on Map 2 in Appendix B. Within ; 438, 91$ The reasons for such delays are not
these coukries the annual damage from
technological: i?hey are .legal,political and: \
s
a disasters far exceeds in absolute terms the .a econom&;
,7
,, I , A:
external aid -that they receive.
I recently Jetumed to .qanagtia, whkr~.
Precise statistics must wait for the world
three years earlier the cen&o~~~the city had...\
survey of disaster damage at presentbeing
been destioyed, Wtihin these years &a&e
:..,,
undertaken by, IJNDRO. Already, however,
progress has been made in the city, but itis ;,,
we have some rewing statistics. $4~ I have
&I&without a heart; the, centre is a total 1:::$
already said, it is significant thaJ9$% of all
ghost town (71); Such,faets are unknow,n t&
~
disaster-related deaths occ>r,in the
a,,
the layman, whose newspaper carries a
developing countries. This percentage has to. disaster story for-,onIy
a few
&:,.;:.;-,--,.-a---.
-----days,.
be seen against the fast that 66% of then -I
W~Xti~eZeC$nm ths section that
.
.YI.
22
,?
.
-.

_.-a
.

on a safesectionof land

31 New .squatter h&sing built in Guatemala city after theearthqtike

-?

officers. Not a single

vulnerability may be the result of harsh
exploitation of the poor by the affluent, and . disaster victim. It was
study of these issues shows the extent to
)
which mans greed is a direct cause of death
and injury. The exploitafion relates
particularly-to land. A landowning family
ira
will resist all demands to release safe land for
the houses of low-income families. The only 1
solution here is land-reform and this is
unlikely to happen without a revolutionary
_
struggle (25, 42).
=
Within the relie and reconstruction
0
phases we can detect similar abuses of power: protracted time taken for recovery can cause
Jcorruption that may divt,rt relief funds and
,,
local disruption, which could easily extend
impede reconstruction.
to twenty years after a major urban disaster.
Sadly, these abuses occur in high and low
:
Finally, the picture is incomplete without
_
places. As a contribution to the relief of
_
reference to exploitatioii and corruption,
Managua, the government of Colombia
inevitable bedfellows of so many disasters.
.do,n&d 100 houses and 12 school rooms.
This all contributes to a vicious spiral of,
,_
AfJer a careful survey of the occupants of
poverty, vulnerability and underdeSklopment,
at every single unit
each houspewe fo
an intertwining of highexploitation,, high
s .or friends of the
was occupied by
population. and high casualties.
-ranking army
,:
.
President and his
0
0
.A_ I
*
1
I -.
i\\i\
*rP
..!
4
\
*
.(
TX>
1 :
0
d ,.
i

i ,

,-,,
*,
\

--se,

.,

.-~

-.

_ -.
*I.

\.
2_ CG--,

J*
f

,
.,
(

,,J
\*

,..f

I
.

?
..-, --

,-

..,
. .___
._

k;

\,
\
\.
\ i..

,.

*
\

\,
jh;

.
*

,.,

23
--Ld*

-_ ;:; ;;:-I:
:r,
y
!.
!~

---

--- .__

\
-----i,.d

.___. __
\,,
----- -..

---___

1,
k

,
r

l,

>L

L
\
-.

.a24

f
\

s-

-, If

.I&
?.
.,

7..
.-2.

.*.

0
.a*.-

14,AHe/bademe -observe it, and I should alwaysa&d, &ifthe calamitiesDo! lifewek shared
,p
.
I%, :. ._j o*P
,
among theupier and lo&x part of mankind; but th$ the middle station had the fewest
a*
a~+--.!
b
: d-4
_.---&s@-s.
;
.
n
.Daniel Defoe: Robirrsor~ C&ye
,
~ : .:..
* 0
0 8*
.
0 3 )..,a
. a
:
t
. @.
.*
-. .
.i ; ,T.
*
:;:
..> 1 ST
.
O_
0
(
j -., >
.;
a
* I 3. g
4,
y
R
Weiave seen that the prime, target of

s, it follows natufdlji

I
-,
--

0.

.a-
;;:
. n. *3 -.
. . . - .

(@aster has
_,. - ,-.--rribility of
.I thkir houSir$s .,.
c- Q
2 2
4.Pr~yt~c&~i.,~r
Jls3s[cr-.
1. Somq metcues rnq -lx- v&y. qystly, ., i, 2, 219,32, .33,X5, 59,
?.
rhitl~ggttqn m&sJires are toci _ (5.g. Ltie?lzarneqb+r&ee):*but
66, 72; 8&96. a 2, 1
_e$xnSive for pours untries? ..~&xt sitC+ig$Yd sippie.
.
c
::.,,
5, o
;41-n ,a.
--...-_.__ .___.._
III~l.IauI,b~~
rnrqe, u\,cI
I?.._
,.. .a
6.
I . .
.i,,
(I
. fittla@,.the ove%ll cost .of ~1
----k
, $p
.( .f --
se;tiementS. -

I
.
.

I(.

-._

x -b

.
I/

o ^_.

.h

*.

.-

. ..I

9%:) SOtI& AT&&S

I ;,
LTt
e.
.f
: ; 1. The. public: wilisho~ signso:f Nb&idcnce to stipport:this belief.- *, 8, 19,22, 24, 39, 4J, ,y,
./
, _ 44; 51,.58, 60, 76, 77;
9.
, -., XI
,, panic jr will be dazed into a,
:
YUte ofiinactiyity.
; 8.9, 90, 9% 99.
I,
-4
* . ,,p
c,
.
Y
5
:
L
The evideke @i&a&s the fev.srse. .-@$39. ~$1;,& 65 7&i.,
Lo$ organisation; are likely
3.
9 , 7;:q98; (-&1,~,J, ! = .,
6
to bt! ineffeceive and
*
*
.*.. - a n
@ s ._inadequate.
I .;
.,
u
*p ~.
.. b 6%
So;,
. 9
, 3. Morale is likelyid be low, pith f@aj the ieverse$5 likely to b:e
.+,,41,?6: 98, 99.
,,
$. -jaoting and other for&of
aminea.
1true, ekcept. in drougi;
8 , P> ? .:

4.
,~
II
viant bGhavioJlr;..asituation
and refugee c3~p.s.
,
.
.
,.d
. I.
I
.B
at rapidly deteri&tes:iilto
.
sl
! ,,^
1..
.I
,.!. 0
,
a&:
-.
d.. . I
I
Aa ___
,q
&\, b
i .I
.
,.
\ .
*
, 79
B -$.I%ople. in a daiGl conditio& , The r&erse: {he nbrmal,reaction .,, ,~2,$?4,,$;~$$,39,

being a hiqy,rhet@afed%elf; L e.:, :. , dJ, ??;-.F! ?& 77;

p- . _, %%tillbe passive, awaitipg:aid
and as$istaqpece)
w.
.,peop1e ;LLJ IlIlC
.
:

,.

-.

6 ,
...
.?

;
.-.
-5. Fllldwing the di&@er, there. f oLA: variable: sih&iog,, $ut .in n&t
wills be acuttSahorJa&$-of ?oocl, cogteT& g&ods*will%
blarike t$ a~ilk&xfsupplies.
~-&Zl&le-@yq@i~~n~ .&?y. i&i$$? x

Q r

c
-

:*

,.
4,

*
:

35 Drawiflg b?! W. Russzli Fl&

19116

dff &licking
t

cro wdsartertipting

,,

._

to esCapbfrom Sal? Fr&ciscs ii? : \

..
1 ,
. , .,

/
&Ii

. i,: *
f/i
I

REALITY
b

'

'AS~U@DSITUATI~N~~

J EVIDENCE

ACTUALSITUATION'

'

"'-

a
..

The reverse: all nutritional

evidence.guggeststhat people
\
,behavemore conservatively than
usual.
a
.. *)i ;
..
No evidence of this risk; therefore
no need to adopt measures such as
ignition of ruinswhich his.rupt ~
r.
reconstruction processes by
I
1;;
destroying building mater&is. I(
;
u
/:.
(C) SHELTER NEEDS,
h
li There is a need for oYficials to The reverse: most families appear to
e provide large volumes of
go to official shelEe-rsonly when all
4
emergent> a~commod~~tionfor other alternatives havefailed.
~
ho.melessfamilies.
c7. ,Afrer a ctisaste,r.people will
eri,tui~tamllkf
food, from a
I j&r-e to survive.
3.
1)
/ T
/J. .There are scrjoucrrsks of
? ep!dernicF, from bodies iying~
in tile ruins.
,,
:
..
J

19, 21, 60. I

1
.

I%,I
.
,
44,*60, 65. *

.,

\
(I

I
e

19, 21, 23, 24, 2.5, 36, I

37, 38, 4Q.42, 65, 89,
i 98, 99.

2. TlierJz~srLno clear patterns of . People have clear preferences, which 19, 21, 23;2$25,, 36;
.37, 38, +@.42, 65, 89;normally follow this order:
pj bg!&iour relative to shelter
I) The homes of relatives o,r friends 98, 99.
provision.
2)
1
, ;
,
*
" /
' improvised shelters -.._
3)
converted
buildings
scho*ols;etc.
.

b;<> j
:.
-r/
4) official provisi;n.
3
I
es
0
?
23, 36, $7,: 38, 39, 41,
T.he reverse. Alb evidence from
3. C,ompulsory evazu,atio$,is an
Y
$0, 76, 77, 97, 98, 99.
,,;Worjd
War
I1
onwards
indicates
the
effective
policy.
..
F" *' .
failuq .of ;uch polic?es.

i
4. TeAts
are.; very effective form They can be most useful, but
21, .&, si>, 31, 3#,26,-,,>'
57
'8
L,
of pIovision.
5 evidence sugge.stsunder-use, and;fFi%i 38, 397,'40,241, 42,.90.
.1
,, . .P
. they)often arrive loo late to-serve
.
,
,a
tbe<r
function
of
emergency
shelter.
_I .I-.
aa,
),

c,
3.
c In areas of high e&$uree

dbvidusly this is,a,critical n&d, but 38, 41,6>. HZ

li
.
II- risk, shelter needs b
,,
*there-is
no
evidence
of
deaths
or

il
i
matte&of life and
I, ilhress directly r&&cd to ex-posure-.--- . i
,. _ .m- _
\(_\.
, .h
,risks.
l&e
social$iechanism,s
which
I
---- - .___
_c \ J
\
\
, .._,
** i exist in &.so&ties to cope---with
-,/
1..
-..
everyday haiards stil1.functior-r ,
,z
after disasters. _/
-..
,
r,
---we. __
-&-F&owing
adisaster people
tX%
,, Sogieties are adaptable, but a form
\
20, 32,'39,,41, 65, 76,
.P"? L will&e prepared-f~-~i~Bi_._~---- .f cultural rejection has occurred in _ 77, .87, 88, 89, 90.
(
Unfamiliar forms of housing. \ ma zy~-&qtanceswhen .unfamiliar
!
I.
shelters
havebeen
provided.
I/.
,,.
-. ,_,
D
0
_
~ /?&ring
the emergency period; The reverse: people tend to .cl;tch
39, 4;,,,76,;7i, 90, 98,
~.
people will be prepared to live to the family unit, and when
99.
in
communal
shelters.
facilities havebsen rdvided they
- _ ,.
. , ,,I
L
-
have!enot
been
popula
.
r)
a
;;,-
.
$m. ,.
.,
I

-~ Iv
;.

.28

,'

'.
,--'

.(
L

.
*'

,'

36; kamilJ,a#ier
. $i1962 raythyuake i/l Greece

Emergerlcy shelter in Managua, part of a US govemmen( aid programme for 11,000 woo>en.

huts

..

38 Irljlatable graitz w?rehonse. Fropbsals have been made for using such structures as emergency
..
I
I. 6).
she(ter
.. *,
29
.
1,

d5

MYTH

,ASSUMED SITUATION

t-

REALITY

a
---iiTiJAI,

_8

SIkJATION

,A
.,

ep

I,

EVIDENCE 1
I

(D) RECONSTRLiCTlON
i. Some form of temporary
h~~i.lSlIlg
IS needed priOi
to
recoflsrructtvn.
.* . 0
s = ., b

-. Clearing lubbk 1s ;i First

~ _ ~ Wrority onie people are
rebcu?\l.
. 1
l

1 \

Reconstruction, in the third world,

8, '32, 33, 34, 39, 40,
usually
starts immediately, and tak_es 41. 42, 72L87, 88.
u
place irresp.ective 0,f government r
, .
.
.>
plans for &ocatioq etc. a.
Apar: from clearingstreets to
provide accessroutes, the rubble is
best left for recycling into new
homes.

.*r

40, 42.
.

_
4.
,:

(i
.
r

.3. Crash reconstruction

The reverse is true?.An indigenuus
j
programmes by agenc:lesand
SeSponsewillphva~s be tlie most
goveinnlk!1ts are a hrghly
* rapid and effective form of
e:tiectiCPway cjf solving
provision, particularly of
iiousip ileeds.
, 2
temporarily unemployed people to

build
their otin homes.
W -
.
0.

._

8, 22, 23, 24, 2.5, 32,

37, 39, 40, 441,42, 51,
7:
59; 71, $3.
r)
4
?
t
Y

.B
l&d
grtuatiyn
(111 311
In the few instances where.
area of high risk) is Jo
communities have,been relocated,
q relocate the community in -- _ the&sti-been
unsatisfactory,
a saie area.
particulqily from social, and
economic standpoints.
I

1.
?I2 b

The

23, 24, 2.5, 36, 37, 39, ,

41, 71, 98, 99.
F

(i I -l-l-E PI&lS~ON OF*AID *,

.
1. Aid 1sgiven in response to the This may be the case; or it may be 22,;25, 38, 39, 41,-68,
needs of di&stlr victims.
. - given in response lo phceived needs 7jq"88, 98, 9!& ' G
of the victims. Or it may be-given to W ~
4 J-Y.I
1,
.
satisfy the needs ofa relief agency or
9
donor gov&nment.
R
s
2. A rapid recovery is
dependent upon a rapid
influx of aid.

r
5

* -f

Often the precise reverse.A large

19, 21, 22, 25, 34, ;7, I ci .i
t - _ f$-68;. 77, OS,9&-w;--=
influx of aid may inhibit the
\ !
recov,@ym%chanisms,the worst,
example being the-development of
$dependency relationshi& where
A
b local initiative is swamped.
f c *

vc -.3 The major pIoport]on of post-., No evidence. Normally donor d P , 2&3i,, 31, 3>;87,668, -' -disaster housing is likely to
provision frqin otit.si$e the cotim?y
F$.y.
91.
,_,
7
come from donor sourc.es.
is unlikely,
to &-qqunt to m&e than
*a
~.
..2
\

20%
of
the
tot&
,a,
__
ly
s
~
,ie
_,
, III
,I.
.I
/
h
- ,<.
*
*.(1 3
ll
6
.I , wj
, 4? * &
C
P
0 *
t
#TQ
I
l

-G&
--A,.
..

--_

-,:
./

?.... ,vagv rvrrrt; trre earthquake in Lice, Turk

YAPLAR

r<,

,
d -

,I

ERE.

.i .i
.,i,

,&

:- I.
.

II
1

, :&-.
5.

~IKINTILI
PfNCflfLEiI~

YAPMA
ENI
fIkBlfllHf

Y*PINI
OLSUN

ItMLL
DUVARINI
YERDEN
fN
GfREtiNDfN
FAZLA
YtiKSfK
YAPI YAPILAMAZ

cinhrid
YAP1

Vt

BOYU
nmmiNf
E K,OSfltRf

t ~ ,t .2

YAYlN
AKLA$IWMA

A.2 50 SANIi,,,
YAPkA
iKi

41 Wall chart used in Turkey tq educate thd public in safebuiiding techniques in earthqw~&&is

ETMEli

--Food, drugs%nd fist aid are naturally the first items needed by thk stricken homeless, but
surely architects are in the enviable position of being ableto authoritatixely advise and prod
,d
.7
UN0 or WI-I.0 or UNRR4 (if it still exists) into providing instant housing caiable of being
parachuted into disaster areas at short notice . . .
-.

.-,.
/

Right here iri the U.K. we have one of the most powerfui and respected archite,ctural
instituticms in the porld. and we have some of,the worlds more public-spirited architects.

---__
As members oilXTBM~~th6

dutyof British architects to demand of their institution that

t
it should in its century and a half of sleepy inaction perform just one so-easily-accomplished
shining dekd bFT
positively to encourage whatever acronymically-nanied
* actink
a

international
c

body with material,advice to prepare NOW for future man-made or natural disasters by
I
,8
having to hand a supply of instant housing and the wher&ithaI

for transportingit

L
--.

to the.,

afflicted site. ,
Perhaps the-RIBA might temporarily adopt the Donne-ish motto: Never send to know for

r whom the e&h quakes; It quakes for thee,

Ttle architecr: editprial, March 1976
.

Three strakgies

:
R

i
ili
1:

not as an object. A specific )Loduci may i

Having established the context of disasters
I
form apart of the process, but as the
and the realities of the various responses to
them, I can now pursuk the subject of shelter preference scale on mith no. C2 intiicat i s, ,
donor shejters are&w in priority. It is so
and housing heed<:
worth emphasising that the w&tern. $08f Id is
It is important to emphasise it the outset
that shelter must be .considered-as a process, ~apt to view solutions in material terms, while
r
33:
*-.
,
LI
.?

.
:

1 No&i&l
housi!;g 5
z
5

-ST.

l
4

\,
2 Normal
housing

Housing survival
construction
continues

Gap Med with

temporary shelter.
and temporary
housin::
Y
1,
G
27
::

ResumptQn
of normal
housing

Ndrmal housing is irrterrupted.by

the disaster. Thus a gap is forhed in
normal housing construction, and a
gap of living accommodation caused
by the destruction. The gap is filled
by Ihe provision of tempo
shelter and ppssibly temporary
housing.

Resumption
of normal
housing

Normal housing is interrupted by .

_
the disaster. 1~ this insfance,
however, the gap is filled by starting
the reconstruction very early - thus
preventing the need for temporary
accommodation.

US\
-

3 Normal
housiq

Gap filled with

accelerated
reconstruction
E
*zw
iii

Diagrur~~6.

j
Normal.11.ousing sur&es .- th&
there is no gap-T% must be the.
ideal, to design and buildstructp&s
tl$t survive the hazard..
If ._.y
h

Three srruregics for shelter; &d km&g

in the developing world they are sought in

social rerms. Dr. Fred Krimgold,an a.rchitect
I( worl&g on hazard reseaich at?Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, his suggestgd that
theie are three basic approaches to she1p.c *
, 1

followirrg LjIJasters

I)

fo&wing a disaster. These are shownin

Diagram 6.
* e
While one, of thesestrategies m*y&eim;:.-W.
followed alone, it is more likely that all
three will be operat$g simuftaneously;
c
,

6 Strategy 1 -4 Housing &Gival

\,

is being tak2n.yFry seriously.

A special minis@y has been established in
issues relating to the first of these strategies:
*
Turke$,.the
Ministr$S R&onstruction and
& provision of housing that withstands the
Resettlement, with the purpose Qf instigatiinl
4i~~r-d. This must become the clear. objestive
preventatiy? measures+ as well Bs.hgndlirig all
: for national governments, international
relief ac.@fties. Tiiis measure-is a response to
bodies and relief agenoies.;~~~s_-w?ys,
the fat t *a-t Turkey is,highly vulnerable to
rhere is a price to be paid for-such security
and that price is often politidal dynamite. In yariousJ$rms of hazed - earthquakes,
/
tsunamis..(s@smic waves, oftec called tidal /
simple teims it impltes land,reform, to
7
waves), rock-fa.Us;floods etc. However, th#
provide, within the price range of the
poorest families, a safe, serviced p!ot of land; major thr;eat is that of ear,thquakes-and.- ,,- statistics obtained in 1965 shbw that.?q4%
with security. of tenmocation
within
:,* -Teach-&Myment
(not a-three-hour walk
of the tatal surface area,,,and 95% of tf;k
from thebrban centre). It also implieS a
entire .population, are in earthquake
variety of methods to moWy traditioqal
country into zones
building techniques, where they are clearly
- vulnerable. It is iristructitie to watch present
Y
work in both Turkey and G@emala, where
------.
this issue of retraining in buqding techniques
\
.
---.\
f
34
.,
\.
i
*7
/
We have aJre%dy considered some bf the

biE!ZITEFWANEAN

.\

SEA

\
3

liEI

1 n deqgref

%3rtrqJac?

zone

2l-a

degee

eanrlquake

zone

4th degree

earthduake

Diagram 7.

Maplof Turkey iqldiiaring vulnerability

/

z,,ne

~cn-da-us

zcie

to earthquakes

Diagram 8. Map:-of Turkey $drcating c$Qstruction types within the risk zones
B.
1
killed and 7,526 buildings are destroyed 1
(built in areas with good supplies of timber) r ,
9
, annually f9_3/.
wiil probabJy be sate structures. Ho-wev&_
+s part of the policy of.les&ing risk, an
categories A,and S,.adobe or stone m@onry
analysis was carried out to ascertain the tybs
construciion, will be vulnerable. If a
4.
of vemactiiar building that exist within the
comparison of Diigrams 7 and 8 is made, it,
cduntry, their distribution, and their
0, -
becomes all too cleartiTt when category.
vulnerability as to ting and constructional*
A or S housing is found
form. Diagram g-in7 Ecates the rough
degrekearthqu&e zone,
distribution of the various bJ,i@ing ty<es. .!n
disaste;areas are indicated.
z
crude terms this diagram
indiates
the
-~J?-&3Qnistry carefully, surveys Ihe
*_
.
spread of these housing types within the
Xount+t.o determine these vulnerable in;
m?jor seismic zones Of the country.
settlements,. and instig& mitigation
Of the five types of build@gindicated on ,measures. Th&se may t&e the form of :
Diagram. 8 the frame structures B and. W ; *.relocating vulnerable cohnunities, or of
,A
,,
8
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.,
j 35
. _. :
:
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,.
2
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strengthening existing structures (9, 92).

Clearly either action presents tremendous
social
and economic obstacles, when it
--_.- - comes
to dealing with &sting vulnerable
settlements or house typss. It is far easier
and cheaper to include safety measures in
new settlements than to introducetheii
into
existing ones. Methods of disseminating
information on safe house construction
include radio and TV programmes and comic
books, which are also being used in
Guatemala (33j (see Diagram 9).
One of the most disappointing aspees of
., the massive reconstruction effort in
Guatemala has been the fact that virtually
(1: all the relief agencies iincluding the
government reconstruction housing
. programmes). have placed their emphasis on
building large. numbers of houses, Twentytwo out of the twenty-four housing
programmes 3ppear to have i

--r,

--., ,,--F ,

ered Cuny is directing aretraining

- .
programme in Guatemala, which has been
instigated by Oxfam and World Neighbours
1 .i
(33, 72, 88).
It is unique in that its central purpose is ._
not directly to build .houses. It is to support
local organisations, particularly co-operatives,
and promote earthquake-pro&construction

techniques that use traditional materials

r.-. _L.i-&i

construction (SS}.
Taking the example of the clever
1
advertising copy of Christian Aid, Buy 3
Omana fish and you fc
Train him how to fish
----__
-;--lik??e can suggest: Give a man a safe home .
er
(
and you-h$~eelio~sedftisfamilyy~- but train
him how to build his own safe house
__ _L_-.--0
have housed his family, and very probably
Diagram 9. A page from a comic book In
\\ \/
families, and his relatives and
\ \.
use in Guatemala providing
3
gz&znce on the co&$t
- siting of hpuses
-~- ----_-*
----.
L

m
.

..

->

bi

44 Rural hmtsl)lg it) t&reru Turkyl*. These homes are btciltkf dried mrtd (adobe) with very __
hem*)* rwJk. a1ki flzr gup iienvtw~ houses is v6xn.fsmall a high@ vulnerable set ojdonditions
and existmg (4lough developed)
construction skills. Yhe result is that the
t,raditional character of the houses is retained
while the srrucIure is mSde safe. The
programme consists of- th2 follo~~ing
._.
l,
actlvltles:Salvage mater& from destrbyed or
damaged-homes.
- ,~.l;;;l!_ti~e~t~~~~~~ducatio*~~
progr,amme:Thi~ has resulted in c.loth wall
charts-and a servs ot simple how-to-do-it
-, :
I
1

manuals in a comic book format, which

deCne safe constmtion techniques (se!? e
.1-H.

Dihgram 9).
Build a modelqhbuse, using tkhfliques
(such as the introduction of timber and
barbed wirebracing) that will ens&safety
next tk+e, When.this model hous has been
buil? in~-agiven kllage, it,often fQr&s the
focus of further educationalactivity.
The roofing, of cqrrugated zinc (1oCaIly
&Hed lamina), is subsidised and is ,

.. .I .$;a
/

L
*;,

i.

. .

distributed through lo@ CO-OPS.

1-tisir_lRresting thapthese Turk,ish 2
, *>Guatemrilan styategies are both puttingB

vulnerablecommunity - such as-local

- builders, Who can be taught safe techniques ,
which they.canthen pass down the: line.
3. It is necessary to quest&n.the
- :
philosophy being followed$n TuiEey of
vulneiable coqnt,ries+ , r@eldcating.vulnerablecommunities (!?Q~~
j-~
or instigate .byeNaturally,. the objec?ives are, praiseworthy,
*"
'

are often unaware of the almost total

absence of planning conrrols.in most Y- *
Y
countries of the third world, and th+eby?:
law concept &often unrealistic~particularly
in [Ural areas with highleyels of illiteracy.
T&se countLies usually lack the money and
manpower to enforce such.regulations (70):
strengthening of houses. .,
Therefore. in aiming for the ideal strategy
Following the earthquake in easte;!r
!
- housing that will survive the next hazard. - @Turkey on 24NovemberS&97~~+otal
of -9
8,2~&Z~families;a~most SO,()OOpeople;l~~ere -
1. r * ~tfie follotiing points requi;e emphasis: .,
.,/ . G
.,
;
made homeless. The Turkish government:~-- .--=r-T
1: Programme; can be inst,igated by .
,maqe%n-announcement six days after-&e *
-.
--sapitalising on the visual impact of
=disaste? that %ioney $as. beingmade ayallable
-widespread damage, 9s in Guatem+
,i,
(, for people to move to t!%?warmer:climate ,
\
-.
i
Consi$mble
c;ll$&is
should
be,

of the Turkish Aegean coast. The,families 1~ , ...

.*
placed 011a.grass roots form of respo,nse,__,.-. would-+erGbe abIe~toptiQ$ase new flocks. -.
Key individuals shotrid be isolated .witkb a. .--V-C
- e: ahdother necessities anGr,build :. ;;ol,- animdls
r
-----

- y . ,,
IX unloo~inga~ G%temda airport
.o.

.
.
8
w
.
- ,
ne~h%nes. By day 9, the BBC &p&ted that - dd clear& it is the oneto ah-for, and ii;
\
4,000 out ofthe total .JO.OOO!ra& acqpred;
?
aiining for it, it is necessary to maintain a
tlr& oif~r; the remaindg 4 -doggedly refused to

grape shot mentality. That isto say, by all

nl~hve.Qp ast evidsn~~rlie.likeliho~d
of
- a
means try to. persuade governments to -+ I
a
Q+II tk ese4,000 n~ovmg is verg slender. . . intro.duce planning controls, or bye-law
c 4. 1.~is rrrost encuuraginy that the
i codes; this is one,part of the grape..shot (W):.
int@rnaXiorM 2onImunity has now conle to
3,I
But probably far more important is the huge =,
educational thrust which must take-@ace at
.- re$rse chat it iS rhe small-UwfHillil~g,not built
a*
by ~~on~raLt~rs,raot buih in accordance with
a--grassroots kv&sim_ultaneoqs~v with the
-. .$a)- 13f~llquake-reslstant, codes, that is
broad questions of national plannirig pdlici&: ---.
There-fore major studieshave
The issue presents a tremendous challenges
e how small buildings ~ . i to,Ainternational agencies and their
.
stand tl$e various
*consultants, to re1ie.fagencifs and their
n
I,workersand to national governments and
nl must increa9Qrgly
:
, see-I,
.their;officials. Ail these individuals are
becaIne; o!~e of t&e major concerns of
engi:neer.$
Seisfllologists
and
.architec?s.
The
.
probably
tithin
one
elevat-ed
social
group.
i ,g
stu,*dGat &
... F
en unde?tak<n on
Can they understand the problems of a rural
vu113erahilrty ti
.
6 &rail dGIlinng have
fam.Gly:whose house is vulnerable, a family
, been selectivelylisted in- the Referenc.eS *
wh5 need answers to rwo&nple questio.ns,-.
@[e dacco;ding 1%subject.
how and where can they build. a safe home? --WW_ YSa$ly, if pait experience is anything io
per SQnie this chapter is in the retis-of

farrtitsy, Cynic4 readers will be pessimistid ,A ,go by, there his.been neithir the,.,i<%rest
b nor the w$l to-make this needed eff&!ta.
aboutdGsaSter rflitigarion measures and
*understand* And when it has been ma$ by ?
~hjSta@.lly &e)l are correct when they say
-that, W-nan natu-re,being what-it is, io is
&al CO-ops or relief groups theyhave rarely
.d
had the answers available to these two
!
_i
4
_-.

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, I,
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2
.
- ...
-

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,z _I ,-- -entire

first-class-iecrion of the 747 Jumbo

h
:\II..., Jet had its seats ltaken out to make way for
~...qmergency supplies of medical goods and
.
Y f&d. On our arki& in Guaiemala, the
&pii*was4
SCefJe
of continuous activity:
U
large jet trqnsposts
I^
supplies. re&Rtion
agent)., militar), command posts, and so on.
i
One of my initial memones is of th& wide
...
. variety of lpguagej beq spoken: and of the
iiwernati,,nal.,diversir~ o? thk relief planes on
2
thcxthnlac..
r
These evznrs serve ro underline certain
tjdSi~,propc~jttlonj..Firjt.~s
alreaciy
live
in!vkLuh~s Global Vii&e. in an age of -
internationalism. with all%iz benefits and;
6
prokilems wrhich this brings. Szzondlyl -ours
IS an age of so&l awareness. and many of
,. *. the officials and volunteers on flie tqrn%ac of
Guatemala ;ir>r.rlirgorr lvere certaii+h+q
L
.beia&
of
~1
g.enunrc
slnhisiic
2onc&n.
.%
.I
>irihdl)~,\Ve t-+ve :I uni;lue capacity. hi- f:isr

to co-ordinate their shelter and hou$,ng

programmes; a sign that matters may b%ou t
of step (40). Our technolotical capacitie%*,F
may be highly sophisticated, the amount -$
money available may be enormous, and both,
may be available as a result of a massive
social concern in tdonor countries. But what
,is lacking is the knowledge of what is
happening to the homeless flim\ilies. We very
rarely know their pie&e reactiops and so we
oversimplify their needs. Then there is
.
confusiok,over tire needs, of which,,there
are aqtually~three. First: thereal nee@
-of.tbe homeless families, which may be \
very dif;erent from thei,r walzts. Secondly;,,
there ace the+needsas we may perceive,
.,\,
jhem - and these will certainly becoloured
,
b$our o.wn prejudices.Thirdly. there are the
needs of th$ donor government or agency. It
is fooli$ness.to pretend that these dont r~
exist and d&i, exert their own subtle
int;lut;rke on the aid response:~*~~-

. dillon.
anLI rills
has fliq?pmxi
tu us hl111ost
.- Diugram +O indicates the range of vptions .
yn3nwes~prlrir
wc rxke tur granted (3ur
-tll3,k will prub;&ly ,e@X-istduring the early. i
cilpaqty t0 send 2 jtk ia&k000
rnll~es1rJ wsekgfollowing a major diaster. We have + ,
i *
halr3
hy.
seen in rn$Eh flo. C2 that there is a clear
<
After3
few
h&
ii* Ck&nal;i
I $ishl
*ord-er of,preference in the way the members I
the LjS ilig<IKb for Inr2rn~r~ional
)
cd the attezted ~optrla%n*se.th~e availrible. D_
Devei~pmenr ( AID) direzt+r to try ?a
she1tqA
,, l
-- ~- ~btainsome relrable. data on ca>ualtiesgn;ii
Tde eigh,t.C~teg~riei a-h can be sub-di$kl
. lilt: estcnt of the darnage. I was handed some in two Wtti$S.
. (
sheets which were the helico.pter pilots

Fkst. in towcial and pltvsical-solrtt~rls.

-
- completed reports on the rural areas (40). I*< :,I&~~s a ande (estended families and
asked if there were any aerial photographs . etiGuation),,;lre socjal sglu tions, while the,
yet and a few minutes later I was able fosee
rerndinder are form.s of physical provis@n.,-V
some of the completed air surveymaterial.
Secondly; the categories, can besplit into\~-5
Tilis int&getr>e had already been
lixal a&b> re@mse (for example +uatter . 0
-i profess~~aHF..~~.~,~.~d-.~ery
accurate
. -0; in7provisql she1ter) and c,@d&~&@@z,
data were given on dani%gePtnd caiG2tie$-, -wIle;e-~li~~-c~lne~~o~~i\external~urceil,
,;k.,%These ,pay be &,thin the;;t~;-& .--- -,- 7;. ;..L.;
and all thi,s informqtion was completed
.)I
within about sixty hours of the disasref:
,government, or outside thecou-ntry.
.
This is clearly-a technological achieveprent,
What unites the&e forces.is that-they are, h*
and it suggests that we niay already be far
all concerned with filling the gkp, even if
_
ahead of ourselves in a technological sense.
they dont view the process as such..
.-n
LThe problem here was what to do ivith the
.;:a
data: how to,:crknslate the flow of stati&icQ
M&W
- ~~~
TEe ni$or foree i&relief ancI~re~onstr&ction ~~
into a tangible, logical response, in effect
is
that of the families ihems&w. Becauie =
bringing these facts down to a human level.
our primary source of dqta in these matters
A gaky of agencies are operating often in
competition with eachother, few having
is th%Faterial put out by agencies,~wemay )/
much idea where<&o focus their energy and II ,,obtaina false impression {hat the,aiencies .
resources. In Guate-m&i? was not until
are the major force at worF; after adisaster. I 1
have suggested (in myth&. E3) that .the. twenty-one days after the disaster that the
first meeting of agencies was held to attempt
involvement of etixternal a&Zw4s..ynlikely
>
.T
:
40
9
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.
-:.t$

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!.
.
.
:;.. _-

.b

(d&a&on
a$pr;'fbx.
s'"-E!,weeks)
'7
,,I,L Q

(duraiion
~ qpprox.
&
3-4
weeks)
1
J
5.
/-r

approx.
6 m,onths)r
il
.I

abprox.
61 months;
bbilt-in

7
j/. I
n5
sites

.,

: *

Q'.

,'.

-5
-.

* ;local

%#

,,x,;.ce

5
-.

i,

f,

materials
,

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Family dusters,;
inforirfalcI?&Oqt

'
I I

..-,.

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and

fi

,<.

'SOf Sh42anij
.i

..,yyI^.

..-_....

of existing

Y-.

hOusing provisioh
T.
._i

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.:,

j ~~GAG~~$ent/

nnrl
1AU~VUCAAIU

xr;ll~n8ae

ciiies

I
.
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48 A night-time home in Guatemala b&g taker1 dowil so that-the tnt& ca?l be us& for
da-v-tim mrh+ries
b

._

*II
0 _

.,

-/--y

/T--

\ .,/ ., .!,\,$
,./ - /I

-\
I

.
Y__

i_-., -

. . 43

Lo

that 25~,000 people were~homeless,.and

to amount to more than 20% of the total
owing to government policies-of e;upelling -relief and reconstrucrian, the balance being
.,,people at ~UIJ point from-the ruins of th+
an ad-hoc local response together with the
homes they had no option other tllan to
RSpOrlSe
of the national government or local
aurhc?rity. Turii IIagan-has noted that in the .-leavsthe cily. A census taken\3 month aft-er
post-wauituari!>n in Ballgcddesh, out of a- the earthquake indictited that no,less than
90% had been absorbed by families and
,total housing need oi 115 million units, the
friends. The census figures for just four of
combined relief agencies managed to build a
total of 450,307 housir;g units between
theoutlyin&&oMils irldicated that no less
1272
;m&
1J?Z;:He
then@es
on
to-n%te
that

than
1X6,@@ l$d moved in with frieqds or
rc!rle /llilli(?/z houses were prob,ably rebuilr by

;relations in these towns. Seven weeks after

owner/builders during the same period. I* I ,the earthquake a ftirthcr census re;ealed
!
witlioul. any external assistance(?l):
$hat 80,OOOwere still in their a$opte,d
r3ne 04.the overridmg impressio.ns of
homes (36,. 37, 67j. The graph,(Diagram l,l)
Guatemala duty dur.mg the first wgk after
Coritrasts the refugees ill-ext~~~ded-f~rnil~~s ---
the earthquake was sf the thousands of 1
. with those in a camp tire in the same town,
:, / B improvised shelters!. thyoughout theaffe!cted
@
Masaya, wilich isfifteerr miles to the south
zones. and,huddled in the city paik+s. It 2s
of Managua.
csrimated that 5O,r3730of these simple :
We cannot deduce from these examples
makeshitr shelters were produced withih the
tl1a.t a similar respon>e will take, place in other II
first ttienty:tnur hc~urs(40).
situations. For example,: the extende,d_, The
hfm;!gt~a
disdist?r
;,i DeLeniber lj972
larni1.y sponge c&mot funltioil iri.tl;e longcontirms this local abilltj. IQ cope and resolve term disasters such as-the Sahel drouglit: for :1/
sheiter p;~blctms: In this <i;y it woilld appear the dbvious reason that everyone is affected.
9

.,
I-*
. 1 .;>. ,
~
50 Existing buildings &t-m a. very v&tilble resotice fbr hous@; for h&&less
,%(. ,I families: a,..>.
I
converted convent in Trinidad, Bolivia
/
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,;
,
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55

,sr
-.

-,d
raQ (,

., L B YI
8_
I r
Oxfam silp$iesat RAF@izeAbrton
*
?.
:
,.
0
I il
.Another context where il wo!nt function is : the&itish or ihe A$erYcaAiovernment
4,
- s
the refugee camps ofBan$ad@h, or Bengal, - do&g? Thepublic expects, and often
_where people have been uprooted from their
rkseives,a visible response*froPn the relief
.
environment. Perhaps, even in rural
agency, and-we are allfamiliar with newsree1\
I*
* situations like the major Turkish,earthquakes
clips of 1a;ge jets being loaded in the dead of .:
of 19,7.5and ,.1976, where there are self-( .
night at some re~mot@ilitary airfirld.News
a/
at.Terz switches toanother topic, and the t U,.
sufficient villages with little outside contact,
we would b,e wisenot to expect such alocal
public issatisfied that thisor that age,ncy is -:
response to meet peoples needs; and initial
2 doing its jqb, and inevitably:the donations
r ,
a I.

stu.dies confirm this (24): ,_

flow in at a.rr&ssive rat&
._
,,Ifiw_e-ask the quegion, .Is$t necessary to.
3
However. in,urban areas, particularly<, _ .__
where urbanisation has b*een rapid (and, this = ,send goods -~~~~-~dnrrd~the~Qrld~~-~~~

applies to most cities in&the developing world), &swer has to be in two parts.
In-terms
bf
there wili,exist strong rural links for most; if
*
shelter piovision the answer is almost
+
certainly, No, it.isnt & at least as far as the
. > not all3 f$milies? and this is of/-.great benefit
c
after a disaster. I =.
,: .,r-->;,$
*
needsof the homeless\families are. concern&d,
t4 ....*:
I
But the needs of the relief agenfy or E *
-.,;i!I-*
Dorior provisipn: Rationale *
governmen~..may,result in an opposite
dz
I
To
understand
this
fully,
we
have
to
/
1
. response.
fi
.recognise that belief agencies obtain massive
In addition to the:prdbleL of vested -.--L.
ress cdverage in any major disaster and this n integests thereis the probiem, faced-by ail
they get free publicity. The
dgnor agenkies,of the culturegap; aI too,
the. interviewers .lips is:
0y
-often they have entered a post-disaster
or CARE, or Save the Ch%$ren situation with a blythe self-confidence.whiah ,\
doing? C&at a.governmtntailevel, what is may be wholly misplacedi Dr!,$chumacheii;~
.o ,
d-- ,,,
.\,,
.,r(,
I/,
I
46.
*:
e
\.
8
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51 L&d&g

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, 52 Emergemy shelter devisedby Mr. Ferris in I9 7f for. Hope Structures : This unit has never
beer1 used in-a disaster
+ . k.,
-3

.(

.
e

------------~

.._

.
/
j3First-Vvear student project by Bob Finch at Oxford holytech&,
1971 .
c
._
*
I
c
has written, about this process:
t$ h~p%or people how to use their
--a
,
*
j1
2 lab %.ur. power with vi+&ll~,no capital,
Astonishingly, the aid-givers-s?mply
whe)n$he entire experienceand
&
P assume that they Ilave the appropriate
education ofthese experts derives from
\
knowledge to help the poor: theythink
societies where labour is secure an,d :
5 they know and therefore rush straight
capital plentiful? f82).
-

into projects. But what makes them

think that-they know how to bring help
TThe whole phenomenon of donor
to destitute villages, when they have no
provision of shelter is eomparativelyre-cent- ---~_1.; -.I
such villages,in their own countries?
and,.I have found n.o evidence-of emergency
!
What makes them think that they can
housing (other than tents) being given by
i
47
,
0.
.
I.,
I
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,
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__

.-.

,,
.,

--d,

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..

on~~ountr~ to another prior to-World War

1,
is:.3ertiFoned from an aircraft and throu&
1.
11.Tlleref -e the k<rovlsion ofsllelter can be : the differing accelerations of the air-resiitant
\
$?
seen 3s c+icldiny wltli the Jevell,pmen-t of
membrane and the fast descent payload, *is
r
aid. rapid transportation. and the g&wing
opened to its stable. position in the air,
spirit of Internationalism menrioned earlier,
landing upright and ready for immediate
2
2nd lilso tile <:ont5inua1incieuses m disaster
use (33).
c3su31~1es{SY, 31).
A measure of tJjtebublic interest in such
<,
ideas ca&.be gauged from ihe statement
,

DCI/li,rj~li)llisic;lti: IVesirrr2 solUrioi2~

about Moss in Time fnagazifie!
* In thih siiLi;irlorl tllere hx he.eri no $iortase
I ,( *
of idizas~
havinc~
l-~sitgci
various relief
!&It Moss the tentmaker will not be<
Genev~12nd Mltshmgton 1 fouv,d
~ :lgencles 11.1
fully satisfied until someone buys his
that
3 ixnili~r parrern was for the officials
iavourite idea --an already tested
,
tc) sa> k:ncr~enc~~ HousIng. 3nd walk over
shelter that can be rushed to earthquake,
to a iillIl&?
a
q,r other disaster-stricken areas. Carried
;>hinzr which vlrruallg, overturned
over the site by heli lopter and rele;lsed
as it \V~Sopened. The drawers \vere b_ulging .

in mid-air. it opens 1a *e a paracjlute and

,
with
*ST
tarleties
of
shelter
types.
The
vast
.: .
cp
diops softly o kartil, ready for * *
majc7rir). oftkese s0nLcpts mercifully Iiave
.
irmilediatk 0 :cupancy (86/.
never left the draising ho& or !>ling . ,.
cabln<t. hut rlllj stems no deterrens tO the
k
Perhaps one issue th t Mr. Yoss has still to,
-ingcnult~* 2nd persistence oi tte+$gners(21.
consid is hqw lu gi e I~js~he!icayter pilo.@
~
12. 32. .ji. 411.. The reason. tor this is

v
a
crash
course

pefli3ps
th;lt
arihitecrs -and.,iric!llsrrial
n plann?ngf Michael
J
9
e
deslgncrs .Iia\,e seen Ilils problem t tvrongl)J 1, MerJzies com!np.nts on this
J
as relatively simple. and well defined. And it
<.
d
uniqiGl), iombinE5 many of thr
. preposS$ssioi westerh+ecl;nologists
ci
. preo<supations of studentq ant Jesighrs:
have with devising c;nning teclifiilogical
social awareness: advan&d technology;
packaies labelled post-disaster
moblllt>, and m~per~!anen~r~>4/J .
*
emergency housing which; far from
td
Some of.the prop&& have been+
beirig installed in any disaster situatioell,
bizarre in the extreme. Perhaps the crowning
reach their zenith widlin the pages .of .
example 1s thBt of the Moss Air-drop Shelter,
4
the ubiquifo& glossy niontbly ,,,, ;&
a project devised on the princip-k that a upit
2
_ mtigtiines (631,
l

59 West Geg;na~~Red Cmss and Bayer polyurethane igloos ar Masayo, Nicareta

.:

...-...
---.-_.

7-

_.

-_--.
,_-_.

I--_

.____
-- _..

--

56 Field testing oj?the Oxfam hexagorlal units in Pa

,d
/--_ ...I
50
,_.

I974
0

-. i..-r:--r-

-.57An txample of the way fantilies modified the polyurethane domes in Nicaragua
Q

UNESCO and the International Union of

,_Architects chose-Emergency Shelter as the
subject of their student competition timed
to coincide with their Twelfth Congress.held
in Madrid in July 1975. In the absence of
any guidance to competitors on sensible and
realistic criteria, this inevitably produced a
_ vast array of clever but (for reasons to
emerge later) largely irrelevant ideas (54).
Some fairly short-lived attempts have
been madeJo provide universal donor
systems of emergency shelter. Perhaps the
two that come immediately to mind are the
West German Red Cross/Bayer polyurethane
igloos (over 1,400 have been pr.Qduced for
use in Peru, Nicaragua-and Turkey) (11, 12)
and the Oxfdpolyurethane
hexagonal
f igl@s, first t.%edin Lice, Turkey, where a
total of 453 units were used.
I have gone into some detail elsewhere on
both the origin and performance of these
systems (36, 37, 39, 41). In addition, Jon*
Cavanagh made a detailed study of the use
of the Oxfam units in Lice (241, Paul and
,

Charlotte Thompson recently examined

those in Peru (9Q), and a team from the
School of Architecture in StockhBlm has
made a study<jof the domes in Gediz,
I
Turkey (84).
*
_
There have been many criticisms of these
and similar products, and,,this may be.the
reason that both systems ha now been
P
abandoned (29). These criticisms includ;:
,I
CMhual unacceptability of alien forms Af

housing. (See Myths Nos. B6 and Ck;) It

, ,-:.
must. be said, however, that some of the
igloos in Peru, Nicaragua, Turkey and Lice
-are still being lived in very happily, a:,\fact
.
that teIls us something of the
: ,
adaptability of societies.
Timing. This is often wrong, sinc,e the :.
=*

shelters have tended to arrive Loo late to,fulfil their role of filling a gap. F&example,
*
in Peru the first units were occupied.60 days
after the disaster (39), while in Managua the-,.
delay went up to-148 days (36). The Oxfam ,,
units took a total of 60 days to reach.Tti;key
,1
in 1915 (24).-..,_ . /_ ;..-+Fire risk. A.drian Greeman has questioned, -8 .!\, :

whe
subi

ief agency has any business to

ter victims to high fire risk in

The foam ignites easily. burns quickly

and gives off lethal cyanide fumes.
Residents are being warned not to have
open fires near the huts . . advanced
technology brings advanced problems:
should charities suspend the safety
standards of the advanced countries?
(491
4,

/ /

/,
\
A

II
Cost. When transport costs and development costs are added. it becomes apparent that
these igloos cost as much a square metre as
fully serviced permanent housing. (And in
r;
&ice, permanent housing was in position
.!
prior,to these emergency houses (24):)
Ftork. The sheiters generated little or no
local employment -- a vital need in any postdisaster situ?ition (8).
Doimr prwisiotr: Lbr.~~tech&gy
soll~tiot~s
1,have Written at iength on these high-%

+!I Further examples of m&jkatbn

rm

59 Carnegie-Mellon A Frqme housing in

construction in u Banglades+ refugee

in Nicaragua
--

I:

li
61 CornplPred ?A Frame.horts&f ar Demra, Bangladesh
s I
./
. 3
.._
I
technolugy solutio!ls, .Ho$aevcr, there have
mofe&kely to come withip the price rr?nge of
bun donor syslerns w&h
I~&e,~~ot r$ied on dkster victims, it is probably better suited
aclvailced tzchnojogy - and in ge?eeirifth&?e- ~~-wb~cal culturd,patterns and chmqte, Cd it
have been more effective. The reasons for
will probab$ gen&*loc-al
emp@ent.
thus are that housing using low technolo.gy is : ma One of the most signif$ant develohr%GJ~.:.- - .~_-.
,*
i

I
r..

i
Ia

.,

,,.S.

?
y/./I.

,/
_

,A

$3
,).

p?62 Nomad tents in:easterri Turkey

63 Tents provided bv R+Crescent in use in Lice, TurX;-ey,..eight weeks aft& the

.I earthquake
,a,,
a,: -- .
system, with all its qualities,.has had little
i in low-technology shelters is the work being
impact on new construe tioi ~proaches(20,
undertaken at Carnegie-Mellon University,
.
0 .
under t,he$irec tion of Volker Hartkopf and .,( 39, 41). p
p -Another donor~system, if-we can call it
Ch$les Goodspeed (201. Working with F&d
that, has b.een the use of 1aminaor of
Cuny, this team has developed
ronosal
corrugated iron or iiric sheet. In Guatemala,
thatrelies on indigenous mater
and
the bulk pur;hase ofthis material has shown~
indigenous building skills. But the expertise
itself tosbe a-very tffective policy. Oxfam
of advanced technology has clearly been
and World Neighbours have broken all
necessary to devise their A frame structure,
records over the amount.tJ$gy have spent on
which withstands cyclone force winds. (The
thisaroduct. By July.@76; five months after
term A frame derives from the form of
the earthquake, they had spent E854,QOO.on
structure, as shown inthe photograph.) >ris
this metal roofmg, the largest financial

method, now being used in Bacgladesh,

allocation
in
Oxfamshistory
(72).
.
would seem to be a model$pproach. It
This lamina has many obvious advantages
c clearly results from a careful analysisOof a.rl
over total systems of temporary shelter in
existing situation. The research has included
that i-t can be used initially for shelter - set
a study of local cultural, economic and
over a feLwsticks or an A frame house-climatic fa$ors. as we11as a study of the
performance of local vernacular housing.
and then re-used for-a more permanent
-.
However, ti ultimate test of any donor,
house.
0
,
syste &whether
it is adopted (perhaps
. with local modification) by the famihes
Donor provision: Tents
\A
.* 1 <
\
huildingtheir own homes. &id early reports
But the most fypical low-technology
donor
from Bangladesh would indicate that this
Product is clearly the tent, and for&&sands
I*
I\\.\
t
1
,
54
*,
*
, . .-.
-l

.i

SItKkpdeS conrsm up Id 10,000 frame rents.

T?IC Red Crexzn~ in Turk+ md Iran also

p
9
p

u1

64Japanese disusrer tcrzts purpose-made in woven polynthene

1
t, rof yexs it has probsbly been the basic form
of emergency shelter. Tents also constitute
one ot the few types oi mass shelter that are
..
stock-piled. AID kiep stockpIles in various
key pays throughout the i+,orld. E$ope,
I
ASI>. Xfma qd Lttu? Amerlia. These

a%+

ii

*A c;- -- Ad - ->7.-*.-

ml:.
l

On> sips&i&~ ptiL!ern is the rapidly

1rlsqg iost ottents aI%i their weight in
.
trsns&.\p~d for rhls reasoa it is hoped that
the plasrri. woven pol)rthene tents being
developed specltizally tar post-disaster use
- bl 3 Japanese firm, FuJirnorl Kogyo Co. Ltd.,
will be a success (4 7). Thise tents were
developed
to a spxlfisation lyorked out by
;r*
jtlrg Vlttani of the League of Red Crdss
Societiq (~5). Thus,Kar they ,have been use-$
insouth East Asia -- after floods and
p
earthquakes in the Phi@pines, as well a&
Vietnam. Laos a,nd Cambodia.how&&-as
yet no reports have been proGdedop6h&ir f
$
perfornyhce.
reports on the lay#tt of
_Twvarious
.reigeee
camps
by
l-red Cuny ;+@of
.I
I
conslderable interest since th$$ represent-the
6 only attempt. to my knowpige. of town
planners apPlying their p,di;ticular-skills to
the problems of camp :M!outs (30j.Qe /..,,
laiout that Cuny M&e6 out fir El
Foyotepe camp in,,,&caragua produced a
hqmane environpfent in sharp contrast to the
*r?gimented miifiary .camps(31). Thisl
resulted in f&higher occupancy figures; The
basic
prinl;iples were theiuscof family
c
&
clusters, Isc;&sed cooking and sanitation
- units.
.

-._
4
,>
2)

- - Y se+-

.A ,y - AA1
4
4 A or, 2 4 ;+-;*

A -. c

- .
,-- I-._

, a

-i.
y

--.

w.
65Regimented Jayout of tents by milita&~
persiinnel, San Pedro, Sacatapqt%
.I
_
.!e;
Gus temala
c ?he obvious problems of tents are high
winds and extremes of heat and coid.
Another problem is that the homeless often
bring scraps of furtiiture. with th&n, which
can easily puncture, the fabric. It is also-very
surprising that agencies with the e,xperience _
of, AID stockpile- &nerican va.cation-style
.tents - altho.ugh they liave recently started
producing a m,ore&urdy.model.Tkie
punid~ent [ram climate, intense use for a,
c

- 55

I
\

period of three to nix months and furniture

darn=%. r&&es many tsnts n&xi-unsuitable
for post-diG,Er&eke~-&&i.yCtie
reason
why igencies like Oxfam use onl&CT:
A
.--

f%
__*-,

...

,/-

duty tents. PerhaDs th

tents are their.
fact -that thev A

_---

~-.-

..

69 krner.wm:l~ c*b~q~ill&M,
titrzt

;CII iltiih

!lrlll

20;

oMffllt?

r:~11\17.

One !.I!!!?:

{tllprising

tilltj :lIt ;roSsl!

nitr

lllld~~-t1~21!

Ei-irtli, Ital\*, Jkr

,.
I,*

_/

:t!.ii:Lt~c~ri
.iTLrl

1s tllat

.ilsaSt?.rS.

b)tlts rmtt2rs k\xE; fnIfir~ir\ p.rec-ulun.

Lkernher J_ ~;lrrllqu~ke
L)2i~~Ill/li~r 23 300 ten[s cr?L~tecl to date

SC)[cllt:, I~i~tlpIeLl
.I.l!lil.I!\ J
.c .
0

2-42 tinlj

freitecl

lb

!.~ilJtlpLLJcl

1 tcllt~

~~2s c)c*LllpieJ

bllirl~gtl~. [Iii L.S drrrl> Jtte! ~;tlorl*blp~rt

.-

rrzorlths after the earthquake ojMay

to Jar?

52 ttblth usd l0r :idn~lnklr2tion purpm3 fY3!.

.
&

rsJ

1976. By Irhis .
L

--,$,

-.

Professor Quarantelli of-the Ihister

Rese3;1riliCenrre at Ohio Universir.y told me
In
that the great biqsing 6f tents is that there
;ire ai~t~a~s plenty of spares, and that is
~\kere the relief officials will be staying!
There wuulct certainly, hav been plenty
01spaie for 3 convention of elief officials in
the tents 0fSan Mart.,,i .
uaternala. The
mny set up 3,000 tents that the German
two weeks
0~~c)vermnenthad donated. Afkr
sgerl of these were oxqchpied, and this was in
,<pite
oC threats that tlie army would foice
.
.a
57

people out of the ruins into the tents at

networks. Against mounting international
gu.n:point 12.5). The reasons for the lack of
pressure. the Turkish authorities issued
use are not hard to find. As with so many
statements to cont$adict such reports, and
disasters. the residents of SsnMartin needed
two men were taken into custody on theft
to be near rheirbanimals and household
charges on day 13 in the town of Van. On
belvngmgs and a carup site on the outskirts
day 14 @e TurGsh premier had to answdr
of town is not suitab!e for eitller.
opposition questions in parliament. He
At the time of writing, a massive relief
rejected suggestions of corruption as
aperatIon 1s in ptogress in Turkey following
exaggerated rumours.
the earthquake of 74 November 1976. Of all
I have dwelt on this at length to show
the major disasters of the previous five years
something of the problefn~tihen a highly
sought-after, highly expensive relief object
this poses some of tl,,la most critical shelter
problems, in view c?winter exposure dangers, (in this case a polar tent costing up to $600)
arrives in a disaste! situation. It may well be
with temperatures at night descending to
t+ case that the cash value on the black
y, of the tents were far too fhmsy
market oEsu& an object would be far
for these iondltions,.and .the agthorities
hitier than a mans annual wages - and
reque&?d+ol& tents wi.th internal heating
aImost certainly far higher than the purchase,
systems. The US gover_nm+ responded by
price
of a peasant- house built out of local
sending a total-ofi,TZO of these tents which
materials.
arrived 111the affected ar?a within forty-eight
The situation in eastern Turkey may well
Ilaurs..Qs; &he tenth day it was estimated that
yield very vital evidence as,to what is needed
10,000 wil!ter duty tents had arrived at the
in conditions of extreme exposure. The
&port in the town ot Van. although a
technique used by armies aIf over the world
careful census of terlts 011 I7 Decembek
in cold conditions cjf digging a tent into the
Indicated that 6,647 ilad been delivered.
The question that was in the mind of
ground to get ground warmth and wind
John Jirnes, the Guardia/z reporter, on
piotection does not appear to have been adopted, or so the press photographs would
Saturday 4 December (day 10) )was what
,became of these tents - !le writes: _
indicate. (See Diagram 131)
There have been many proposals for the
In a visit to the worst-hit settlements of
use of inflatable structures, br large marquee
1Muradiye and Caldiran - I did not see one tents, which car! be subdivided igternally
such tentbeing occupied by a homeless
into small cubicles for individual f#
fa@.ly. Plenty of them had been erected,
AIt&ough thereare obvious cost benefits in
,
bu,t these were either unoccupied, or
such propo$aIs, t,here emalhs theapparent
under Turkish army guard, or else
:dislike of families ormuiti fan& units (see
occupied by the Turkish troops:
rn$&~e~rnpI~o
f this can be
i
se.enin CaIdiran, eastern Turkey, where forty
James then visited a supply depotI
twenty-person tents had%een erected by
day 10, and ye,t they weie totally
A destitute crowd was pressing around
unoccupied.
I
B
.
the entrance to the dump, calling for food
and tents. Soldiers were keeping them
Donor provisibn: Summary of external,
3, *
c
sources
back and an officer told them to be
r patient, that their demands would be
I- must summarise. Of all the myth% in Part
met village by village. But at the other
II, Erobably the tiost significant is Cl, the,
popular rPlisconception that there is a-gap side of ttie dump, screened from the .
crowd by trucks and piles of supplies, k- waiting to be filed by external sourc&s. With
,
the possible exception of famine, ieftigee- ._..
three coQmparatively weII dressed men
camps and war, we can. confidently state that
2 ! were helping themselves while the
14 initiative is well able to fill t&&helter,
soldiers i,ooked on*
*-r
pgap. ne particulargroblem
of &eas of higl?
exposure risk may well be clarified when full
Tlie thieves are cecorded for posterity oi TV
evidence emerges from the Turkish
films
which were broadcast over British
.
c
_.__--,
.
58
*.,
,, \ I

,
. ,e
:
;
,
I

.
c

,
.__,,
:
,

Diagram 13.

Field drawing of erecting tents

If

.i

..

.
.d.--59

.
~1 .,.

-2%

-I
.( .+
*,::
*:; ,,;
:
,;
,a J

_ $&rthquake~ofNovember
1976; but it is .,

=
1 +
~$&&th restating that we have not as yet .
1. Designers must work with, instead of .
found any evidence of deaths from exposure . ~ designing for, the people.
I
-
- following a natural disaster.2. Any designer trying to?ntroduck
The fdct that a western productdis almost
change must* be&n with *what the people
certainly not required (and this may even ,*
already have; that means-not only the
include the supply of tents) is a matter that
shape? size etc., of the structure itself,

. needs to be ~ommunicaied to the decision---?L but also the indigenous materials, skills .P:s
and ot.&r resources available in the
m.akeB of reliefagencies and governments. , \
It also has to be stjted to designers and to
? .normal housing process. A I d
3. The whole idea of developing housing. -5
manufacturers<who may be tempted to get
,
cannot be divorced from the entire
,<pinoff publiiity.
development approach. It makes no
- .
There are four questions that donor
differen& if the house is earthquake
T
governments or reliePagencies should ask of
resistant if the per&n hasnt made the
. any hous;!ng or shelter product that tfiey
. choice himself to participate and accept
consider sending to a disaster. zone:
what he is being presented.with,
., .. *
HOMEquicklj~ will it he occupied? iIf it is
. be.yond a week it will be probabli too slow.).

How &cl~ wok will its cotlstnlctim

+
Any real understanding of donor prav.ision
getzerarr? (This is a valid question even with
must recognise hatboth the giver and the
an emergency shelter programpe.)
receiver have needs to be satisfied. And as
HOM urliversal is ir? (Will it be rejected 2~:
more.evidence comes to light it becomes
4rural grounds
like some of the donor

very clear that disaster aid is pa,!! of the

systems in the refugee camps of Bangladesh?) international aid-market. Both relief agent.% s
How trudl
does it cost.p (Add development
and donor governments liave mixed motives
and transit costs to materials and labour. and A rekent example of this emerged after the
then compare it with what this currency
earthquake in the Philippines of 116 August
i
could purchase locally.)
1976, when 8,000 died and an estimated
If, as we must suspect, donor products of? $100 million damage was sustained. The
most kinds relate more to the needs if
New York Times carried a report that. the
rqanuixturers and agertcies in donor
US EmbaSs)c,,inManila had made contact
countries thin to the local needs in affected
,with the government of the Philippines to *
zones, then officials should think very hard
see if a rapidagreement could be reached on *
on those issues. And the money that used to
American air bases; if so there would be no
go on goods for the long flight round the
obstacle to the flow of a!id to the 35,000

world can be used instead byFerien?ed

homeless families. I
officials to purchase badly needed mate&&
It is this type of report and the vast
in ne&by towns and neighbouring couintries inappropriateness of perhaps 9% of all
to affected areas. This was how Oxfam
donor shelter provision that encourages us
to speculate whether most societies would
purchased its lamina sheeting in Salvador,
not do better to fo#low the example of
for Guatemala, and,,it is a model pattern for
donor provision, an. excellent gap filler (72). Mexico, the Philippines and China. These
countries have decided that donor provision
The problem of shekter will probably
islikely to create more problems.than it
continue to fascinate designers and students
solves.
Future studies must qorisider the
indefinitely; but,.for any significant
success or failure of their unaided relief and
. development to be made, they must begin to
rehabilitation
procedures. ,,
:,
recognise that this role i;sone of support or
LL!..
partnership with the peijple in question. his
is impossible to achieve -withouh&ose con
%l ct Donor provision: National governments .
with the vulnerable populatign. Such contact We have seenfrom the section ph rny?l that
would render o.bsolete the clever ideas
we are prone to exaggerate theimportance of
worked out in the comfhrtable drawing
the donor role, and in turnfito minirnise the
1,
offices of London and New York. Fred Cuny role p5 national governments..

1
has summarised threepriorities:
Clearly they,Ita;e the potential to fulftl
l
- t
60 *
,:I>.

and also in the reconstmctio

within four months (
.- aid-may be administered by
* emergency cortimittees, or national
times the classic evacuatio
reconstruction com.mittees, as in the casi of ~ Australia. At the time of
~oyulation of Darwin wa
,S&pje and Guatemala:Or administration
days of the disaster 35j,O
r,$ay take plac,e at a!local level, as in F&Ii.
evacuated to towns
I.Edy.
In this instance every village hasifs
own resoirrces, a&its own&qergency
.-2 the city. Therernaining 1 1,OOO.menstayed
ad~linistration.
..
behind to comme-noe reconstruction. work.
/ L..
-6 nz.ver$ effective procedure for
* By 15 March, 10 weeks after the cyclone,

*g~ove~rn?-nqnts
to foliow is to use esjstinf
5; - the pq~&&% had risen
t%ilities. fo? shelter provision - schools.
September,.9 months after
churches, all public buildings.Nr4turally,
Li was 38,000 /50, 97) ., >i
rhey can be used for only a ver$ short time,
The twin desires - to return to ones
but-this tiay be all thit is needed co fill the
home, and to remain with ones family .
gap, since. the gap is lik& tofbe only8Pew
appear to be so fiowerful, particularly in
c
days pending the s&t of reconstruction
periods of stress, that pl6ple till tolerate- j
acriviv. The resos rce of existing buildings is any degree of discomfort to achieve them.
,
,,:I
immensely valuabl/e, and for thisreason all
Once again, there is a conflitt, qd the
\ , pubKc buildings in vulnerable situations
obvious benefit ofhaving all ngn$ssential
, should.be built edhigh factors of .s$fety.
2 personnel out ofthe area has to -be set
\, Another action governments ire-/ofte.n
against the social upheaval
vmpted to pursue is that of evacua@g all
evacuation measures will ,cr
people not specifiedy involved with,se+r,
In this section,4 have looke
rescue or relief activities. Of all groceyures,
theiesults of t.his$an be cdnfidenlJy i,w
predicted. Studie&of wartime Eondon gave
shown that at anj one time more evacuated
children were returning to London than
l

T,.

,:

(1

o\
t\3.,

I*

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,* I : : &: 1

i.2 A, wz,allrecorlstructing the roof of his house in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, in corrugated&on

sheet. The preyious roof of heavy tiles coilap:ed and already, six days after the disaster, he is
usi& a dijj-ererlr approach, either because he lacks the skill to hle his roof, or in respQn!e to
:?I
the obvious Jfailrlre oj. the previous technique

will continue to use that h&se in its

original form and incorpbrate it into the B
long-term struckre .which evolves. One
uf my major Criticisms of the hou&g
that Wasintroduced into Guatemala-by
many of ahc relief organisatitifis was that
it did 11ot take this evolutionary process
into cohsideration. Many orga,nis?tions
putiup only a.frarrie intending for the -pfople to put up wood or corn cane
wdls. While that uos safe lo begin with,,,
experience has shown that over a period
of years, the w$ls will came dQm, the
frame will re.main, and the W&G will be
filled iti with adobe or other$eavy
mar?rials. Thus, the struc&r,, which ends
up teri years -frbm i&;may be exactly ,,
the same shape .or form AStheoriginal
safe structure; .but willbqtisafe because
of the change in material. The lesson, ~
therefore, is that the emergenqy shelter
or temporary
houie mustbe designed for
,._
4

! its ultimate state in the evolutionary

process,

intensive sy%er&, thus

.- podding work for
the homeIess people. George Atkinson, in,
his study of redon&ction
after disaster-,
comments on thy f&d ,t*o,mobilise local
I
, , 4
labour:
*
a

e
e

._ s.
One of the overriding impressions of the
first six days after the Guatemala earthquake
.
was of feverish reconstruction activity, In
a.,
any group of houses, ther,e would ,begroups
To begin with,,the organ<ati& of relief
at work, straightening cofrugated ir& sheet,
falls for sp,ecial bodie$ and outside
Rtiuilding framesi and so on. And it is true to
agenciq. But soon,:very soon if possible, ,1 s B
say that unless events occur to prevent it,
all who are able-bodied should particip&,
incr&sipgly intheir normal,er&loyment.
I(*
.sreconstruction will take place like a reflex.
The factors that can inhibit or prevent the
B
Toooften it h,appenS, especia&in poorer

recess
taking
place
are:
the
enforc&d
,,
h
_
courrtries,
that
large
numb&s;
of
able-.
.
-
I
evacuation of a destroyed city (as in
bodiedmen stand iqe, living en relief n . c
Managua); the burning ofrubble (a vital re-
while outsiders get busy on
building resource); or the acute uncertainty
B
r reconstruction. Not only is such a *
engendered when local politicians mak?e. 2
D
happening demoralising to the able: .,+\
early pronounceinents about the possibility
5bodied,,but 45 W&S m&h ne?eded._ ,$$b;d
of moving thk settlement to some new and
:,:;,i:,:; .
resources (8); f ; :. . .. .-+
.
, , ,
N
safer location. (A favourite preoccupation;
i L-,@ .
).
t..&part$cularly when politicians own landyin the
It is worth em&as&rig. that &a wofd
I 4 . . L:
favoured site!)
I
1.
temporary, when applisdio housing, is a
!, fi
In Nicaragua, a local development ~
+
mgith; that the, temporary prefabs of World \
organisation, FUNDE, and also CARIT+
Wars I and II are s&ill%eing-lived irrin Britain i,:
built, (or donated materials for owners to,
\ 0x
is.testimony to this fact (XC?).A f&her
build their own houses)a veryextensive @gF example was recently recorded by Larry
.
3it,., + 4
number of hduses long before the
Baldassaru (1 OJ. He, describe% the #$it oT
\ _
temporary shelters were.constructed. This
45,000 peoble still living in appalling.
4
? .
was done by the prpcess of infiltration,
* conditions in.temp,orarybarracks, Quonset
g ,
where units were built in small areas, back- .~ihuts, following the 1968 Sicilian .eafthquake. .
y
J In this instance there has been an out of ~
gardens or odd scraps of ground, thus
\
$
obviating the need for alot of bureaucratic
sight, out OJ mind attitude, when the
4
approyals (36). .,
temporaryo shelter has removed all official,
be will properly, to house thme earthquake 3
*
A more recent kxhmple of this rapid
,
I
house-buildi,ng piocess is that of Lice, where
vie tims.
.a
In cont_ast, the Italia$ authoritieshave
, .- _Y.
4 ->.1,500 prefabricated @ermanent) houses,
were completed by the Turkish government
earthq&&e inmorthern Italy m-1976. A
L-by 10 No;ember,nei$t weeks after-the ;

earthquake. This .is undoutitedly the fastest ~ -decision has been taken to rebuild $I the
building programme of a& recent disasteift - historic towns and villages as they were prior
%&&ie
speed was highlight.ed by the fact
to the disaster. In consequenceeach house,
D will be rebuilt 0ver.a five-Lykar period by the
th&t:;he Oxfam*temj>orary or emergeticy
shelters-were being constructedhfter ahese
1
government. Alreadyelaborate steps-have
units!were complete (24).~ -F-- -~
deen taken&&&
up historic fagades,
The obvious conclusion is to c
number the brick~~rches-~~~~-h~ve--~~._,
all resources on a rapid housing?
be t,t%porarily d&@Iishr!d and so on, ....
al&ough, tragically, many of these shored-up c
with ~ehanent housing, while relying ofi
tents, existing.buildin@ and the extended .
fasades Collap3eh.ir-r the further ezthquake
family spqnge to hoid the po.p
@ 4
n du&g
of September 1976. In order to
the oonstnic&ion period. The m
cems accommodate the populationduring
this ..
of such a rap(id housing programme will be: I pesiod of reconstruction,the government
.
siting relative -to future disasters; the use of ir assigned architects&and planners to each
lo&l materialswhere available; and thi use
T
community. They then drew up plans for
*oPlabour-intensi.ve rather thti capital-
%.
dtemporary housing. This provision is for . .
.3nn ..<
*. I %
_I
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7
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Jcentr&y heated;fully, serviced prefabri&tecl$:J , minimise r&f. 2, Even thkminimal relief

;operati& &re$hes the public, sector
7 units.. They cost $n average betGeen &5,000 w
~
~ +-
afrd &$,,OOOper houseunit, Niturallyih/e
~ k executive capacity to the +utmost. ,d
7
Fqherefore
Goid
pate&&m.
The
public
question
which
@be
askedrepeat&lIy~over
;
.I ;
I
sector must not touch any jobs the
thg hex.t few years is, can any govern@ nt
,
z
4
people
can
do
themselves.
The
last
thing
afford this type o,$two-stage poli~y?The
d <
the,public sector should do is the
ofticialsLI,talked ts in Friuli explained tfiat
construction of houses, of any kind.
L
they
realise&that*the
temporary
homes,
/ 1.
3,. Under the immediate impact of a
would st,ayfor good but they had in minti. ,
~&F===
1 ,disaster people are ready to change
the tourist, development of theneighbour!_
- .
*
long-standing
methods
and,customs.
hood; and this *would be the major use of the
Therefore act quickly to introduce
homes once. their temporsr, o&pants
^*
improved
construction methods and
* returned tot,their original houses.
;, x

bye-laws. 4. Quicklaction means planned

One very fascinating aspect. of the policy
action. It is no good starting making
being,pursued in Friuli is its relationship to
..
,
the Sicilian situation discussed by Baldassaro plansafter the event. The plans must be
.ready beforehand, including four vital / _
(IQ). Following a very ferventpress
i
.I campaign which highlighted the details of

.. checklists. (2) Emergency legislation,.

r I.J the Sicilian fia.$co, the government iwith az
particularly with regardto the use and I
general election looming) decided to. embark ,% occupation of land. (b) Neti and
on this highly expensive two-stage operation,
extended city layouts, thats for ik- \
.
which &maybedoomed tg failure,
modelIing as tidll as for groq:, (c) New
* Y
Professor O&o Koenigsbefger has -
cogstrustipnsystems and byelaqs.succinctly summarised the re.l&ionship of
.. * (d) Most important, a role casaing plan, I
relief~to;jiec,onstruction,and of indigenous
a because the disastef,is the CL&& raiser -.%-
3
response to officialprovision..:
to a big drama and the action.will not
*

-take place unless every role in the

,. L
There are really four principle> 1. Relief
subsequent action = filled by-an actor 1 <
.
I
0
is theenemy of reconstruction. Therefo e
(58).
d :+
%
%I
.
c
S
-

I*

9.

.
a

,+J,

.
.

PART 4

ives,

p
.

_.I-

1..

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.,., ,.

. And God saw that the.wickedness of &an was great- in the earth, and that every imagi&atidn

of the thoughts of his +art was only evil continually . ._. Aji-d $.&&

&;

No& . ;-:$f*,
m
,

thee an ark-of gopher wood; roomsshalt thou nqke in the a& and shalt iitch it within and
/
.,
withoutwith pitch . . .\ Inthe six hundredth year of Noahs life, in the second month, the

seventeenthday of the month, the same day we&all She fountains of the great deep broken.
up, and the,wi;ldkvs ofheaven were opened. And thj3 rain was upon the ear& forty days and
1

forty nights. In the selfsameday qntered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japlieth, the sonsSof
Noah, and Noahs wife, and the three $&es of his yns with him, into ,tie ark . . . kd

the r

waters prevailed, and Wereincreasedgreatly upoi the&-th; and the ark went-upon the face

I~

..

I
.
I

qf the waters.
Genesis vi, vii

pen Noah and his family climbed into the

reference prior to the C&at Fire of London
Ark, they were-entering a disaster shelter of ~$1666. Th$k a very brief reference tihich
.
alather special kind, built as a piece of
states that An& Kh&au LXhlaG IjZz-I
meticulous pre-disaster plarining, This m;st
Khusravi, a poet who lived in Persiabetween
be one of the ,earliest recorded extipleshof
.I
1253 and1325,livedJn a tent followingthq
shelter provision against disaster, in this case collapse of his house-in the rainy season. CO
aq act Of God in a very.Jiteral sense.- - .~------~~-~ Although the centriil theme of this
-~--- - -~~~a~~ei-i~~~a~~~~~r. a*~.oi3.cg-.-d
* ,~.
..,...
..,,
Within this sect&..-1 want to look at
various disasters in history, drawing ghereier
p@isiori, I have delibera@y-s$ray~dinto:
,
possible oh primary sources of ir$rmation
pdripheral are%.where There are items of

.
dr, if these.4aieunavailable, on secoA&uy .*. interest. For exampld; t.he&bjects of aid
pro$on, public riioralq and reconstruction .
* recorhspf.these events. The evidencebf
.
-...,.-.-.: 7
shllterQprsvision+in history is very - -. - y.--a;e .c~ose~-~~,+~e~ated;m~ I-have ~ot-~,..T.
hesitated to compare previous patterns of
lragment&y and slender, as will be seen:In
my researches I have found only one
human behairiour with current &titydes. _,:

I
rr .. ,

/I

,.

r 7

Famine in Judea &AD 4%,-M

In addition to the account of the Flood,
there is another story of a disaste,r in the
Bible, with an early example of aid OFd,onor
provision. This is the account in Acts xi: 27a
of the-sending of aid from. the church at... _
Antioch to Jerusalem, where a fan&e had
been prophesi&l: -~I

Spirit thatOther: would be a great

famine all :over the world; and this took
place in the days of Claudius. And the
disciples .determined, every one according
to his ability, to send relief to the
q
who lived in Judea; and they
ending it to the elders by the
and Saul.,

Agabus stod;jd up and foretold by the I

-4

Eruption of Vesuvius ADc 79

&/--

In the same era the Roman historian Pliny

wrote a meticulous description of this
eruption. He describes the reljef efforts of
his uncle, in a letter he wrote to Cornelius
Taci tus:
I ,
**

companions by repeatedly declaring that

these were nothing but bonfires left by
the pea&its in their terror, or else i
empty houses on fire In the districts
they had abandoned (754.
1

The family within tl% house were faced with

He gave orders for the karships to be
a dilemma whether to remain i&oorf OF tie
launched and went on board himself
go into the open. But with ashes fiiing the ,
with the intention of bringing help to
courtyard they feared they would be tr&c
many more people . . .he hurried to the
within the building.- they were almosf
place where everyone else was hastily
literally between the devil and* thy;&ep blue
leiving, steering hiscourse straight for
sea.
h
the danger zone. He was entirely fearless,
.:
describing each new movement ar-rcl
Outside, on the other hand, there was a
phase of the portent to be noted down
danger from falling pumice-stones, even
exactly as he observed them. Ashes were
though these-were light and porous;
already falling, hotter and thicker as the
however, after comparing the risks they
ships drew near, folloped.by bits of
chose the latter . . : As a protection
* pumice and blackened stones, charred
Against falling objects they put pillows ,
and cracked by the flames: then suddenly
on their heads tied down with cloths o
they were in shallow water, and the shore

Q
.i
.
was bIbcked by the .!debris from the
x
This is,d 20OO-year-old example of resourcemouhtain (75)
_t
It
fulness when a disaster occurs: it is.aIso a
Pliny goes on to describe the situation on the very vivid picture of the re!iefefforts.~~at---r Y
Amountain slopes:
were made, although the account is
-tanGlEingIy brief ;$nd we are-left in doubt
h4y uncle ,tried to alIay the fears of his
as to the success qf the relief mission.
\II
-.
Y
-, -* -Eafihqu-&+s

ifi.

history:-

The study of pastea;iquakes has taken on a

. Y
G-J
I
70 .1
i .i*
,!

I :..

_- _ ...._...,.. ,,. .i_ -..c:..

* :
i

_ _I:!
.: ; .
vital &npetus- the light of modern Q&II in
P,
St
5
~~_-^.._-0

.
,
.

PI

i;

-G---

evaluating earthquake risk to assist in-the ,.

Taxila etirthqtiake which occurred in-, _A-
-.- ;
prediction of future disasters.
North&+P.a@tan [near_Isl@a-Q-in
AD 25.
- I
In China, scientists have stti
I ,The~gnifcan t ~arch~ological d&covery here
i
documentsi_spannirg a 3000-yea
was of hdus@ebGilt after this earthquake in*+-~
,
%a ar~ei%orm,
this knowledge h-asassisted the Su
with special precautions to
predictions of earthquakes. Thes
r-iG&e their foundations secure. In somfrom foolproof, however, as is evide&e$by
-ir&nces the new foundation depth was as
th,e earthquake of Tangshan&.Iay
1976 , much as five metres deep. Ambraseys and his
where up to 700,?_00-have been reported
research team have also found this change in
-.
i
killed.
_ -*
foundation depth in Syria and Southern
The studies of Professor Nicholas
Anatolia. Further, he found that the new
.
,
Ambraseys have been mostly related to
buildings were built only one or~two storeys
high, where there had previously been threehistorical earthquakes in the eastern
Mediterranean basin (4, 6, 7). He has plotted
storey structures.
1
J
This team also found examples of the
earthquakes, in the dimensions both of time
switch from stone walls to timber bracing in
1.d of geographical distribution. Some very
significant discoverieaevant
to w,
,~partsof Anatoha, Crete and Northern
:
I
provision and early earthquakes have
1
patternemerged
of
,
I
emerged from this work.
folloiving certain disasters.
.,
One of his historical studies is of the

Lincoln earthq,uake 1185 ,

church of Lincoln ren.t from the top
downwards (26).
1

In 1185, on the Monday in the week

This is the sum total of knowledge !f the
before Easter, chanced a sore earthquake
through all the parts of the land, such . . . earthquake. It took about two hundred years
to rebuild thecathedral, which was infinitely
as . . . had not been heard of in England
.
since the beginning of the world . . . Stone more sumptuous than its predecessor.
houses were overthrown and the great0
,
:

*?-Iolinshed, the Tudor chronicler, wrote:

Great Plague.of London.I 1665

.
how Ishould dispose of myself; that is 1
Only one aspect of this disaster concerns us
: ,. .:.here. This is the rbassive evacuation that to6k
to say, whether I should resolve to stay
..
place, on such a scale as to iesult in a capitaj
in London or-shut up my house and
---T-, . .city that,,was virtually deserted (28).
flee, as many-of my neighbours,did. . .
:,A
@r-Al Defoe was only five years old at
I had two important things before me; - r _,_
__,.r ,,
the time, but he 1ateruse.d his memory and,
the one was the carrying on my
.,
.
, .
interviews to set down acontemporaI;y
c business and shop . . . in which was.

9 ; account of the disaster. He records the

embarked all my effects in the -worId;
+
L---. .
and the othiirwas the preservation of
dilemma of a London shopkeeper.
.
my,,Iife in so dismal a calamity-as I saw I
:j
I now began to considerseriously with :
appareritiy wts cqning ripon the whole.
:
,i
city(43).
:.:I
.-~
_.
.:
myself concerningb my own cas,e,a&i
I
_ ___:- .L _- _- -- ____..._-_____.-- . : .- a--- .I---._I _____..__,.__--..-.._.--.._.
*
,,_.
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7
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x,.

Great Fire of London 1666

canopy over them, but that of the
Heavens (46).

We can be grateful that Samuel Pepys and

John Evelyn kept diaries when the Great Fire
of London took place. Inevitably, they were
preoccupied with the dramatic events of the
first week in September 1666. However, the
diaries give fascinating glimpses of the plight
of the homeless
families. John Evelyn wrote:
I,

Evelyn believed that there were

.200,000 refugees dispersed upon the fields o
Highgate and Islington, with the majority in
Moorfields: People of all ranks and degrees
dispersd, and lying along by heapes of what
they could save . . .. (46).

.
Amazingly only four people were killed,
while those made homeless numbered about
100,000 (one in six of Londons population
at that the>. Careful surveys were carried
out of the damage., and it was found that
13,200 houses. were destroyed in an area of
436 acres. The estimated-cost of rebuilding
these homes was calculated at 53.9 million.

Here we saw the Thames coverd with

goods floating, all the barges and boates
laden with what some had time and ,..
courage to save, as, on the other&e
carts, &c. carrying out to the fields,
which for many miles w,ere stiewd with
moveables of all sorts, and ten+? erecting
to shelter both people and what goods
they could.get away (45).

P-

-- -._._

Many thousands now have nowher to .

. lay their heads and the fields arc\ the
.s only receptacle which they can find
for themselves and their goods: most of
the late inhabitants of London lie all
night in the open air, with no other

\
Our .knowikdge of what happened to the
tuine&buildings is much greater than our

-Iu.ii..in

rw.l+~lrr

,.i.i,.,rre

..liL,r

FriT.or~.

tusd,r.

lx~ll~.%.-kr

,)

L;,

.I!.

w.

\i.rnV~:.uLl.~L.sAun,rlu,

OT

llui

MT.&L

dc&rw.nr,~~

,.&

r*).

76 A Victbrian view orthe plight of thehomele$ af?er tk Grt?atcie.of Lord&i, camping

out in Highgate
,
B
i : *
I, P .. . . r ., .,..,_/
..
,(
__ --72
.
_-__--a.\ :,_Y-___.
i .a_ .-~..~i__
._
.--.,,-*,~.~=;,.,;
<Le*;-w.F--.>-.T.,-*,._--ceT-.-,~.Pd,i
__
I. - .- _ _ --~~.)
;C.,
.c_,
.. I -=_T.- -a -,

_
_,

i2

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4.

-,
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_,

.;ica,.r

~l~;t-lic'fl~

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(,if~*

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/,ynih/tl

73

x_
I

?;

./

--

-*

un$erstandm$ c:f ~~*h3thappened to the

spreadquickly.
rii~u$ez. \Ve iLlG !la\e J tew facts. King
2. The refugees living in improvised
Charles code out tu Mlotirfields to address the homes (tents, shacks, etc.) were gradually
It Gr:,:Tlijei! them 2500 worth of
iit;iTlr!thS.J
absorbed by those whose homes had survived.
bf-?iJ l;Jli II? ,Jj.;:-l~r~)ii&d tents for them,
This was encouraged by royal proclamations
,
J;!ci !!i? Cl!) ilt I-tijtdt,n pave permission for
3. Bold: near-Utopian plans were
produced. (iWrens-first planwas completedlc:!?LJI)ILli\ zti:l$!lg !I1 rl~e open spaces north
within fourteen days, but Gvelyn had beaten
L\t :!ifo Clt;; \! ~11;.Ti~rze tidys after thefire
broke tru:i a II>>& pro;lamation ordered all
him by three days with his proposals!) These \
plans were for wide streets and lo?g vistas, in
r.llz ;ttitht)rities III nei&bouring parishes to
sharp contrastto the higgledylpiggledy
p:o\i& .lGtgin#> for tilz dsstitute. The
pro~~i;lrr~ation r?\lurr<ci rhat all towns and
nature of the old City.pt
as so often in
subsequent centuries, expedience, money
<iti<b h!i<)lJldwIthout my contradiction
ie;zi~2 r.1~ <aiJ Astrejsld persons and permit and private interests triumphed over the
tiierri t!le ti?? c?\2!CiS?cil iheirmutual trades. bold dreams&f innovators.
4. -1 have already mentio,ned*isee Diagram
he h~c~c, that t:~&rs set up work in Ipswich
and Osfijrd 35 ;i resu!r of this proclamation , 2) that bye-laws were introduced aftpr the
Fire to prevent the next disaster L while the
!1: httici& il cti,r!;crn<<! with immediate
charred City was still smoking. Since there
with reconstruction,,
rrirct. ~rtd tltit pr~i:n~dv
has not been a similar disaster in tl;e
ls-;ii<j. But I[ IS j\urt!i i~l~trring,the distinct&on subsequent 3OClyears, wecan congratulate
ld $!Tc~!!l :i!e KJkC L)f :~ICGreat Firea whole the City fathers on their,foresigh t !
jci%?, 01 ,)os!-JljaittZr ;t~~racterisfjeS,
Tlie reconstruction after the Fire isa
pltsrrls tii;lt reJppcsi 11~subsequent
further. example of radical chwlge being
catastrophes in major urbiHi centres or I
triggered off by a catastrophe. It is a
reminder that when officials have to contend
I. A \u!nzrab!e <audition was the basic
with public uproar on top of financial loss,
~~acwsd)Ithe Jilajt=r. London was a mass of
conditions are ripe for either reform or.
YZr\ narrow <treeis 01 tall wooden housessal
repression. Mercifully for London the former.
hghl~,, vplqkrablc tu tire. and the flamesresulted.e
.
I
CLl~lltlil

iit!tj

/Z

6.

7.Q).

<

lILisbbn earthquake 1755

:_:j

(94).
_ kt 10 3.m. on I Kovember 1755 Lisbon
~
(perhapb the most prosperous European
The earthquake appears t&have been a *
caprtal bf the eighteenth century) was
classquake rather h&Guatemala
ravaged by a massive earthquake. This
disaster in that&ecasualties were almost
created~rbtal havoc, widespread loss of life
without exception from thepoorer. sections
;-- of Lisbon society, with just two deaths from
and extensive fires within the city; Just
twenty minutes later, seismic seaZiior
.~__
--t.liii Zobiiity;
fsttmmis engulfed the ruined city, causing .
- The relief operation w&h&dled largely
further damage and casualties. Perhaps as
, by local priests and nuns, and it. was carefully
many as 60,000 people died in the cataclysm, ?locumented bycontemporary hist
Antonio Pereira de Figueiredo descr
and it became the source of wid-espread
. _ i .1
philo~&&!&..l.~debate throughout Europe-(56j. form of improvised shelter:
-\
Q\.
Th$?v%?~$wpled
with the earthquake
, The general, desire was to get out of
,that had:&vas@ted Lima, Peru in 1746, had,
/,, buildings into tents or huts, and to,sleep
a profound effect on Voltaire, and three
in the garden rather than indoors, even
years after the Lisbontragedy he wrote his _
if ones home still stood safe.$nd sound,
very witty comedy Gmdide, a novel dealing
and for this reason &he great camps on
with the problkms.of evil a?rdhuman
the high ind open placesround th$ city ,
suffering posed by such evgnts as earthquakes

74

%.

78 ~i~11iernrh-c.etltlrl?, mgravirlg of thP &srmctio~~ of Lishou

79 LlJbon rebuilt after I7.55 earthquake

were for a long time crowded
_1
commuruties, m spire of the initial
dlscor~lfurt an< squalor+f the misera, ie
bivouacs of matting, planks, and sail-4
cloth under which rmny ot the squatters
spenr their first nlghts /

7dJ.

T.DrKendrick, from whose book the above

account is Taken. comments on the relief
operation:
\
A particularly

difficult prob&n was the

control of refugees from the crty. They
were finding ,therr way al1 over the
county, and among them were thieves,
~ escat3ed,,prisoners,and rascals of all .*
kinds, in addition to a large number of
able-bodied&aftsmen and labourers
....

who,-yere needed in Lisbon. A system ,J

of passes had to be introduced, and the
provincial governors instructed to send
0
.-??.&<the
capital all those wllo had
I
escaped to a diwc.e without very good
reason (57).
So we can see the authorities trying to
reverse.the mass migration from the capital
into the &rounding rural areag -a&se
was the problem of iemporary shelters
which Kendrick comments on:
Anothei urgent business was the prbvision
of tempo&&shelter
for the homeless
and the collection of material for-ma-king .
huts. $ofiteering in wood, of which
there was-a shortage, was,stopped, and

0
-1.

-_

1\

..

Lhagram
IS.
._

.\iup of I,dx)tl

.
-as

.v

imiicati~~g rec*wstntctiorl

fdlowi~g

the earthquake

Whin the week after the disaster there were.

a further thirty-tremors and shakes. By

Augustl.756, ten months after the event,

five hundred aftershocks had been recorded.
Another similarity with present conditions
is the reference to spiral+rg costs of materials
in demand, in this instance wood. At the
time of writing the demand for corrugated,
iron sheet in Guatemala has created a similar
spiral on the price structure. It has b:e>n
r estimated that 9,000 temporary wooden
buildings were erected in Lisbon within six
One major problem in the relief phase was to
months of the Lisbon earthquake,
find accommodation for whole communities
Although the Utopian dreams of Evelyn
(
-. of nuns, whose convents had been destroyed
,
and
Wren
were
never
real&d
in
the
rebuilding
in the ditister.
Thus the situation in Lisbon finds echoes
of London, the most grandiose schemes were
in recent disasters. The efforts the authorities
implemented in~Lisbon, through the
,
, all. av;lllablc sugplies were commandeered
,tyrLrsbun. Rents of land used for the
:reir~on of emergency hutments were
cclntro&Q~ople
were encouraged to
return, wher
and landlords were not allowed to evict
their tenanis from surviving dwellinghoqses. and those who kept lodgings
*
were not allowed to put up their prices
.
(57).

The voluntary movement 0

-ZOregions far away from the city is not the
normal behaviour pattern, and it may have
been the result of terror - a response to the
aftershocks which follo;ved the earthquake.

76

the entire city centre had been LebuIlt on the

lines of the boulevards,and squares of the
French place royale.
~

I a,I
r ,c

Irish
. +.
. pdato famine 1845-9 . *
Although it did not.destroy buildings;this
disaster illustrates certain attitudes over the
giving or receiving of aid. Cecil WoodhamSmith has,written a moving account of me
tragedy:
.-

man in a quiet office, and what happens

.to people when that principle is put into
practice . : . The response of theBritish
Government to the potato blight was
according to Ricardo and Malthus. The
dry, antiseptic principle was enunciated
Much of this obtuseness sprang from the
by Charles Edward Trevelyan, the
fanatical faith of mid-qiheteenth century
permanent head of the Treasury: Trade,
British politicians in the econqmic
Trevelyan advised, would be paralysed //
doctrine of laissez-faire, no interference

that was his word - if the government

by government, no m$ddling with the
gave away food to the Irish and SO *
d
9.
operation of natural causd. Adherence
interfered with the profits of business
was carried to such a I:
to laissez-j&
enterprise (481.
c
/
length that in the midst of one, of the,;
major famines of history, the
_
It is probable that one and a half million ._
government was perpetually nervous
Irish people died, many as a result of this
of being too good to Ireland and of
e%on&ic theory/Their deaths are a further co$-upting the Irish people by kindness, /
reminder of the+wo~pro~d!atu~oi
and so stifling th virtues of self
,, - relief, withdonor interests likely to win in
reliance and industry /VOl}.
any conflict over8priorities. In talking to
officials in government offices or embassies

John Kenneth Galbraithcommented on this

in Central America.1 have heard similar
attitude in his recent TV series:
views to these of the politicians of the midnineteenth century. One seasoned official
I Few things in life can&be so appalling as
told me: Nature has its own way of dealing
the differenxbetween
a dry, an&septic
with over-population, and its probably wise
statement of a principle by a well-spoken d not to inte-rfere in the process.
a
..+
I

- San Francisco
earthquake 1906
0

This disastt+r was the first major urban

their homes lest thereshould be-,a further:
earthquake of this century. Diagram 4
earthquake. By June the total h,z+ddwindled
indicates the scale of damage. Set against the to less than 50,000 and by July to 25,004. _
$525 million estimated damage, the relief
In the autumn, (five monthsafter the
grants were pitifully inadequate. The US
. earthquake) the permanent population ;bf all
gownment gave$2.5 million and foreign
emergency camps was down to 17,00@
governments contributed a total of $474,211
?Ihere are many e?cellent studies of the
(which included a gift from Britain of $6,57O).San Francisco ear&q&e;
in one of these
In terms of shelter provision, there was
studies, William Bronson has written:
widespread contemporary documentation,
--which included (perhaps for the first time)
The makeshift shelters of blanketdand
,
-.- photo&aphic coverage.
ragswhich helped shield two hundred
thousandfrom the rain .after the--fire a
>e~troy&~i5Jl,POO
homes
didnt last for long.Tents issued-by the -I
and resulted in 300,000 people sleeping
military refilacedthem, and the
,- .Y -----_-.outdoo\s during the first days after the
I bJ beginnings of the permanent camps which
disaster. This total, as in#a.ll earthquake
were to dot the Citys.parks and.
situations, included both the homeless and
reservation$for
cl*
those who were $2 frightened to rgturn to
~~
-.
~ more than a year
$ were

L-I

.I
z- _i_l_____..i,L-__ i
rT
\:.~

I
..C
1,-----.i
.-. _.

.-, 77
9

,-

.._

estabhsilecl. Tile ~rohl~m of housing a

c~t\ III \I~NLI! rhrtlc rirt11~of the dwellings
hai
Ill

t:llin~d
r!?t?

til!L!I

\\ LIS IlILt
Ltllzl).iiS.

111 marl>
iTl<)jt

\V;1)5.

Ot tllFj

hd\eci it rur I!ILIX2!~.t>i i-/i-

AIld

p?Oplt

afraid these people will neve; want to leave,

their new homes here. This attitude is
reminiscept of the authorities, views in
Ireland. and not without its counterpart
today whenever we hear the outrage of press
or politicians St the featherbedding effects
of social welfare provision.
After the cottages had been occupied for
just uniler ,a year the egodus began. The
unique event here was that the exodus was tif
cottages as well ai people. The enterprising
occupants su&eded in jacking the hutsoff
their foundations and iri fitting {heels to
ther .. and then with suitabiehorse or mule
po 4 er the huts were moved to private lots.
To this day some ofthese wooden cottages
still re in as garden sheds, but now-they
.,
are almost unrecognisable.
The committee spent a further, $kOO,OOQ \
on building a further 1.4004~uses forpeople 6
. &ho had sufficient cash to match the money
spent by the committee:As an incentive the
owners got a financial discount if they sited
fllese homes in the burned area of the city, a
very unpopular area forreconstruction (1SJ.

Z-3lmprovisecl home anti refilgees bilongitigs in Golden Gate Park, San Francis&,
9
,,
I

--- ._

84 Harbor View emergency camp with Alca&az inthe background. This site was u$
several monthssand housed the toughest &d most unmanugeable,group. ofrefugees
.
-80
>
1
._
,.,

for ^:.
,

_i
. . I ,-

8.5 Emergency camp in Sah Francisco

86 77zePark Presidio Drive site

,

../

mp

called Funston Playground)

8

. .-*:
.

L
,

2:

..
r.

-\

SY j,bU!I hlrrs :\*err btrrit ( III rhis crnc~rgencysite in Park Fresidi(I I)nve

80 A temporap house being moved to a permanent site in the summer of 1,908 (after about
nineteen months on its original site). Note the legs of the small boys pushing the house.
jkom rh;e rear
.
82

Reggio-Messina &aith&ake%O8
c ,

~
ts

./
.

Unfortunately;. Evedont have~suzh detailed

knowledge of Gther disasters in the early part
of the ienrun as we pOSS2SS for San
FrancisLo. T1i.o y ear-3after this major
disaster. tile S~iltan city of blesslna and the
iity of Keggio on the ltahan mamjand were
destro>,ed. There lvere ,mass~ve<astralties
wlr~h ma>. have rncluded 50.000 deaths.
WZ i;in

dedllce

S~lll~tillIlg

Oi the

post-

disaster srtuatlon (in the era before rapid

relief became a characterutii pattern) from
the e),e-witness amount of a Swedish doctor,
Axe1 Munthe. who described the s&xz&@ in
his best-selhng autobiography ~~The stun, of
Saiz Jlicilel~ He writes:

suffocated p$ople back to life,by means

of artit>cial respiration . . . I know that
I dragged single-handed an old woman
from what had been her kitch*en but I
also know that I abandoned her in the
street screaming for help, with her two
legs broken. There.was indeed nothing
else for me to do until the arriviof
the first hospital ship, no dressing.
material and no medicine whatsoever ,
was obtainable (64).

_.

-.
_.,
.#.,.,.

Following this earthquake the local

authorities rebuilt the city of Messina, wit.6
every kind of earthquake-paoaf form of 5
construction. So successfuJ-was this
)approach thatalthough.4,000
tons of Allied
[what] I did tn blessma \vas very little
compared Htth what I saw hyndreds of ., bombs were dropped on the city during
1942, very few.ofth$ buildings &lapsed.
unnam& and unreiordrd pcople do at
The technique was fjrstly to pro.vide a .
.
rile peril of their lives. I myself
w&i
in
massive
ground
slab
of
reinforced
co&rete,

no peril except that oi dying from

in
place
of
indlvkdual
foundations
for
hunger and from my uwn stupidity. It ,
buildings. Secondly, each building wai
I> true that I brought a number of half
t
3

,,

i :,

,I

y
-_,
.I P

AC

. \
r

90Modern Messina, reconstructed ifter the karthquake of1 908

40

L .x-zI,A
_,__I? 83

3
r

SC,

framed iri reinforced concre<e (ivith

ma&rum .s@ns of 5 metres): %hiidiy; .z
heights were limited initially to t$o s&rev\,
but this was relaxid in4,the 1930s to allo$
forstmcturesup to four storeys. Finally? the
spacing-of houses &d the ne\v street widths
.. were calcutated to provide fire breaks (1Tj.
..

.
*lJ

1.
\

yo earthquake
and fire 1623 \ii,1..
3
I>

authorities of Tok\o/sent cables to the Lord

The &rrhq&ke covered an a:ea of 1,800
square_miles. The casualties were enormous:
Mayor of iondon ,ebuesting anyqadvicethey
140,000 killed? 1OO-,000injured,,,and massive
could offer, as a reI ult of iolndons b
property damage. In al! 380,000 buildings
reconstruction after$he Great Fire 257 years
b
,
collapsed. and a further .7.00,000 we.re burnt
earlier.
.
-3
.^ in the fire t,hat foIlowed the earthquake. The
I have yet.todjsc$ier any reliable
, tskami, or seismic .wa;e, was over $1,
accounts of tempora$ housing provision in
high: and it swept across the $agami hay to
O
Tokyo: T&e photographs indic,ate the
destroy. 155 houses and kill a further 60 ;;
familiar pattern.of wooder-rhuts and . *
people.
i
improvised shacks.
As arresult of the damige a total of
i ;
t&t
One feature of thlTokyo.e&hqu&k
6,OOO.OOOpeople were mad; homeless in
gets in#o ah-&e architectur&history
bopks ),
.* .is the st.ory,cjf the susviv~I of Frank Lloyd
Tokyo-and Yokohama, Many t?uiIt
:
temporary shacks ofwood in the scorched,
~~_
W@ht;s Imgerial.Hotei, because of itz.
still-smoking ruins of their old homes.
earthqu.ak&-proof construction, of which
12,000 refugees were taken by lifeboats and .,Wri$$t was partic;ularly :proud.
(
fishing smacks and v+ere,pI,acedabo,ard the
.I have:compared the Tokyo situatibn with
Etllpress @Australia, which was moored in
mat ofi:an Francisco in D.iag.rams4 and 5.
:
.
,
Yokohama harbour. The bewildered city
\ :

91 Improvisb~ fhacks for homeless farriilik

*
,_.. 2

within the & $-ktery ,of Yokohama

D
.
?c

* I

1 ,

*
.

,Z

,c .Id\,\
1
:a
.

I J

:*
,
,...,*.

_.r.

;;

Ordinary dwellings
90.2% .
-; In the two great man-made disasters of this,
: century.. the two world w.ars, we &in find
Institutions and hotels
2.0% I
--~~xamples
of
shelter
provision
whi@
dwarf
all
*
*Rooms converted into
i
p~Jst?iisasLerhousing prcvision in their vast
dormitories
0.6%)
-wale. Ewb? the gr-, I Finnish architect, .AaIto,
Camps and barracks
proiiuced cietai_rx
ed designs for emergency
Cottages or,shkcks in
shelters iSi). But the wdrs also .
cry useful information on social
r in stress srtuations (27). I have
aheadi reFcrred to war-time studies of
elvacuarionin writing about Skopje and
accommodation, to
ures for other cities.
Darwm in Part III, strategy 3.
1
.
.-In o.r$ of tfte mijor studies of emergency
, ,, housing provision during the Second World
-War, Fred Me has made a careful analysis of
aimburg. Hithin a few days in 1943 half of
Yokohoma in l!&+&
the citys houses \tcre destroyed. Ikle w@es:

P
.

4%

XI first, sftei the raids, the

_dmitiisrrxGot1 ai13 ,.,
the public expected
thar :t prograrnrfiz for the construction
ofemergenc)~ h~JlIlcs would provide
lomdess. People were
ss,ist the building workers
their prospective hom&
on Sunda\,s . . . Howe~~erfive months
~
Liter, 90 mar? llran,#62? .emerge_ncy
homes had been erected, accommodating
Iess rhanZ+ of Hamburgs homeless (53).
4

Ikleproceeds to quote data from a

housing cen.sus the German autho.rities
carried ou-t-in October 1943: This is to
.describe the types of accommodation used
by the citizens oFHamburg two and a half
months ,rifte;r the heavy air raids.

\
9-.
9
\

There is not sufficient space to comment ,

on the prefabrication oftemporary homes;

(1) PRIMITIVE

-SI-IELT$R
.

(ye----- yz
,I-- d

L___
i

:._TRANSPORTABLE
,

1:

PRIMrTIVE

SHELTER:

*.

L _ d *
.

I.1

MOVABLE

This is asomewhat hea,vier type lhan the previous

she1rer, and once placed
. upon the site it is .intended
it sl~dl stay there. However,
in the hegiwling they*as well
U :,will , sltclter fix-n families.
After a more permanent
stage is rrached, these shel: + te& will be regrouped
to

4.
.- .- 4_e.-

(2)

. form

normal

home

for x

one
famil.y, as s$owd in the
, designs.

._

.-ti7I---These shelters are designed

bolely
to p give temporai->
emergency shejter. They arc ,
so constructed thaC they m.ay
be nested in a group of four .
and .tjiucked to the site. ?hey
art?: assembled again, func: -w
tionjng as fou; separate
/
shelttrs, grouped around a
NXSL
-mwating
unit. These
,**
-.shelteq
SFmoved-.-4-@rn
.-place- to place, being of.-a
tent-like character but more
.,
stable aid warm.
.
\
Diagram i!6. +-gn fo
19
9
.
,

b
t

:r

.I

,_,.
:i

.,

3 *

,,

. .

,,

jr;

,-(

,FI.,

/<

I ~jSZ,

.,

9&l

a,..~

_,-.*

,,I
..I

,lr
Jo,,

96 77~ Ctesiphon hlits that were builr in vast qua&ties

to D Da-v

.I<

PO,
,r

liS
_.I,

,,.. I,/,,.
,,,

I,.!,

a/z./

*l*i.j.

,,

,.(

,,

,i,,l.,,,,

, ,,,,,

,,l.l..

throughout the south of Englakd pnor

.\
_,

astonishingly short space of time, such was

this ha9 been covered extensively elsewhere
the pressure to re-hbuse blitzed families.
(61). Two conclusions must follow from any
Speed
of erection had also been a
study of the bewildering array of prefab
characteristic of military construction
lidmes.
programmes during the war. Immedia~ly
First, as I h.ave noted already, they are
prior to, D Day the South of England
still with us - and some date from the .First
World War. This is an important comment on became a vast camp where 3.5 million troops
had to be housed. Sixty per cent of them
the words temporary homes, which belong
.
to the language of politicians, slick salesmen - were billeted with families but this left 1.4
_
milhon to be housed in&hutments (62).
and, sadly, some relief officials.
_ .
Secondly, the prefabs were built in an
-.

s -

This has been a fascinating and yet highly *

Assertions.
+
I ~
tantalising
search.
So
often
theYcontemporary
Firstly,.hum&n improvisa$on and
I;
./
- ,. ,, ~
narrator stops short p-f any eomment on
inventive resourcefulness are-geMa
a,
shelter needs. But .even with these slender
charac tenstics, which -are to tally predicttible. 4
items of evidence, taken.from a small set of
Diverse examples are the pillow9 protectors
historical disasters, significant behaviour
after vesuvius or the wheels.that were f=ed
patterns emerge. And when the uniformity
under the San Francisco disastek,cottages;.
If
of behaviour, observed invarious historical- ----Secondly,
JentS h&e a very ei tensive
disasters, is considered together with the

. pedigree. (From the Great Fire of London io

uniformity of ,behaviour seen over a wide
Lisbon.
.
contemporary geographical distribution of I
Thirdly, disasters can become the,
disasters, -we can confidkntI$ make certain
: 9
catalysts for disasterpr~bntion.measures..
.
.:,
!

88

>\,,

/*

.__,
-. ,: :

i.

The deep FoundationsOof Taxila; the London.

Building Acts; and the reinforced concrete
frame structures and fire breaks of Messina.
- Fourthy, fine architecture cm foUow in
the wake of n-age&es. Lincoln and St. Pauls
Cathedrals, the Wren churches of the City 01
London, thenew Lisbon of Pombal, and the
wide streets of Messins ail ihustrare the
legacy of disasters.
~~~~~v;~~hen.tcf~ered
thP choke, people.
*put temporap housing wy~ low on the
prejkreme f$ts-San Francisco and Hamburg.
George Arkinson has also.looked back on
past disasters. and analysed the patterns of
behaviour that tend to f&low ihem. There is:

sometimes accompanied by the lobby&g

of planners; an attempt to determine the
cost and to seek aid far and wide; a
period of great realism as resources are
balanced against plans; a waning of
enthusiasm as the problems which
reconstruction poses become m re
complex and less easy to solve; a% ifting
out of carpet-baggers as prospect! of
easy pickings recede;if fortune iskind
the set-ting up of a reasonably effect&reconstruction organisation . . . or if
,fortun s less kind, the wasting of
resources
?ver-ambitious and ill\
advised projec&which enrich almost
asmany pockets
homeless families

. . . a wav$of enthusiasm for planning,

,
b

._,*\

-..

,
:
.z

.,,,
2;

,
;

.x-

J,

:
.,

89 .

.,

\
\

,p?
.._

,\
,-.
-

EPILOGUE

-A--

,--.,

By* glanzmg
over the cvenrs
of history,
and
by looking closely at contemporary disasters.
i
I have attempted to tlnd patterns.
There will be esceprlons to.any expected
forms of behaviour. such as the looting and
atrocities that appear to have followed the
Tokyo earthquake of 1923. It is wise,
.therefore, at {h&ssrage of knowledge, to
avoid doL~afis?n and I re+lise that at times
I may have drawn premature conslusions
from Iimited fastual evidence.
I hope I have Coriveyeci some of the .
corn$esltles
oi rl~~+~ubj~cr.
Future studies
c;snnot be iarried out m,~s~l;~ti~n. they will
succeed only if the investiga tars recognise
that the architect needs the seismologist. the
relief ofticiai, the economist and the
anthro$ologis: (to name a few of the
<inrerdeRendent professions).
One of the complexities is the variety of
attitudes that can be detected or exposed in L
any analysis of relief provision. Initial, basic
assumptions may well be very naive or
totally false, and &is above all else curbs any
optimism that matters are improving. Sadly,
the three assumptions that we cannot take
,,for granted are: that societies show any
concern to learn from the past; that all.
-fofficials
_x.I_~
- .__. in in{emational and government
offices <have-5 genuineconcern for the
welfare of the vigtims; and that aid is always
given alt.ruistically.

I
-

:*

.-----

I-t is wise to recognise the seedier sides of

,
the problem. I have found, in making
detailed investigations of certain product.s, :
.,,
that their existence as disaste? relief is not a
resporise to the needs%ofthe particular _
i-2
disaster. Rather it is the result of an
individuals whim, or sales pressures, or .aid
quotas from a donor agency. When one 1
questions the logic with local or even international officials the indig?ant shrug is a good _.
indication of the level ofconcern for the
recipiedts of misplaced aid. Mercifully this
is in contrast to tJ;egenuine concern of
others who are c0nstarjtly
.
understand the real needs
sensible answers.
In conclusion? I must restate the aim of
emergency $elter, since this may have been
/
lost in the &sues I have cohered. It is to.
provide protection for a vulnerable family.
... 1
It may take the form of.a. product, or it may
be a process. I&could start as a sheet of
5
corrugated iron which wouldultimately
.:
ri

become the roof of a house.

In providing this protection, any donor
must be aw,are of the long-term consequences
of his actions. The future farm of the. new

dust still hangs in the air.

i I*

?-

b
REFERENCES
LISTED ALPHABETICALEY 6
The, numIPGQediist of aeferences given below
covsrsthe various texts referred to within
,
this
book. Manv of. these te,xts h ve been.. -to
I
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I
check the following basic sources for
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/.
MANNING, Diam
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I irk: London
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------ --.1976:
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W
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__
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1

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,
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\.

;,/
\\\
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,5.- _-..^I_.__-~----__t..~---~.--~~~~
I*;,
\
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--.-.-k .
I,
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!.

..

q
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63, 67, 70, 72, 74, 80, 83, 88;89, 90, 91,
...
/
92, 102.
4 ,;*
.,/.
Ernergenc-J) shelter
ini tia?7Z??r
period
/
. /
5, 9, 31 , 24, 30, 3 1, 36, 37, 39, 40, w
Wind storms

/
47, SO, 58, 60, 65, 76, 77, 84, 91, S&95. ---t&-$
34, 50, 30, 87, 97.
-,J-L-
_
L
.y+

30, 31, 34, 36, 39, 40, 41, 47,

93, 95.
-.

41,
91, 49,
95. 54,- 59.._ --.

~_

--~

Asasters ;Dnor to 1943

4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 26,!7; 28, 43, 48,52, 53,
56, 64, 73, 74, 75, 79, 81, 94, 101.

29, 32, 36.37, 38. 39.

88; 89; 901,

World War II
27. 53. 61, 81.

Skopje

I
8
>

__--

Indigenous
1, 2, 8, 16,
-4QAL4,

I
_.--

The rule-of:
19, 27, 36,
Evacuation policies
14, 27, 36, 50, 53, 67, 76, 77, 91, 97, 98,
99. :
Prefabrication techniques
8, 9,91.
10, 23, 24,. 32, 36, 59,63,
90,

. 22,
, *

Sl, 88, 89,

-.

x L

Darwin

.:i..

_ *- -.--

/..

50,
97. c._-- --_z-/-Guatemala
,19, 25, 33, 40, 42, 72, 85, 88, lOi:,-. -..:I
_
* .i
<
,;
.
,?- :
,>
t
5
-3 P
& :i/ i:
,J

, ,.I.,. -i.y
I; /,
/
:
B
I..-

A~PPENDIFA: ~~A~MARY CHARTS iThe table which appears on the follov&g

t%lve pages sunmarises the effects of six
recent disasters and the kinds of relief work
and reconsrruction activity that followed

-them. These disasters have been choy

: .?-t,
because I have had direct personal
_.
experience of them, either as an observer . ,
or as a qgnsultant.
\
a\
b

.p
4

e.

,*,/

-----l.\.

(,

+-@;

~_:<

I,.
.:;

,i
:---\.,
P

._I

-.

/I

,/(

Lb. (

C 4
c)uLo+4
b
3L

E.+
Lc

r)
cJ7.c

,.

:
__

!
2
e
.,
,

,.)
I-

\;
Y

\,

;,
I
1.5

:: :
1:

.
...&~
,

,
.

I_

DISAsrn
TYPE

DATE
-1

DESIROYEZ

'

Earthquqke

I VALUEOF
0. HOMELESSDAMAGE
d;.
I'
.*I CURRENT
IVALUES
VALUES -

NO. OF

NO.' LNJUR-El HousFls

NO. KILL&

VALUEOF AiD'
CURRENT
VAUIE!
I
cil

Yanagua,

Yicaragua

437,OfJC

STATISTICS
OF SHELTW
ANDHOUSING
PROVISION

ii OF
rENm
'ROVI'DED
360 in
dasaya
ipp r-ox.
1,600 in
aanagiia

TO. OF

TYPES OFSHELTEX
PROVISIa4 mm

rmur

iOUSEUNITS

Ticnnts
IglOoS
Wooden huts

M?..OF
TYPESOF NEWHOU&NC
HOUSEUNITS-. Wooden huts - by IJS AID grant - now
BUILT SINCE -upgr'i3de ; ,and all types, concrete block,
DISASl?!x
tutic?k c L *. primaritiy
by private
sector;
numerous -agencies
- IflJND1:CI, CEPAD,
Dank .etc'. - were heavily
involved
with a wide variety
of housin&,
mainly
in outlying
towns.

Jnknown but
3pprox.
JO, 000 rpousc s

World

; %
occuPANa
50% Hasaya
10-20x

rIanaguq

D
mw&cY
SHELTEZ. POLICY

1.

I.

!%
oaJP AWY

Initiu,lIy,
35x] of AID
rlut

,,
A policy
of evacuation
was-..
factor
in ab.sorbing
r
implemented
using'all
9O%'of refugees.
nearby towns.
overnment
with
The government,built
campsites
in Managua but these
4. T
yere.very
little
used,
since the eXtended family
5. M
'sponge'
uas the major
0

-1

,'
/ *
>-

urn
up

.TMING ?F lWR&XNCY-~~VES
.(DAYS, WXKS, MONTHS'
FROMD
% ASm)
1In Man.agua 40 tents
in L? days.
1:n MaSaya 40 tents
in 3% weeks.
IYfollowed
by the rcmailiper
of the total
c)f 1,960 tents).
1he initialagroup
of USi AID huts were
-6completed
14 weeks afte:r the dis'q$er.
1:hc igloos
were first
occupied
5 moh'$es
rfter
the disaster.
Lb
local
agencies,:
like
Caritas
a&+*:
;Zertain
I:UNDE,'built
simple woo,d-en houses within,
5 weeks of the disaster.
P

EcilWwrIo
K$IcY
!
c I:?

l.< A ;o I icy

of

recons t,ru?l. 1;:

TRlMG
OF RECONSTRUCTTW
(MONTHS, YEARS, F-ROM DZS&WEX)

,i .

.:
B .//I

spmlgc w:1s tii~~trly effectJve.

3. The Gotman ifilo~s
(which have
not

qu$stioned.
The urban
waste land that siill
yx.ist.s
is Id memorial
to
that decision,
22 The extended
family

been

used

llrZqlVCd

VerAi

under-used
cfis7-rlbutlqn.

4.

s inut

Wanilg~~;l)
;fhd

ll$tl,

Ws.$rL

desp~ LC free

TheAIDwocrdcn
huts were
as emergency
bincflecti.ve

were
JII~V I 51011:
remotely
sit&,
insulIicient
attention
being paid tp
i nfros tructure.
5. Reconstructi
on by Che private
sector
hiIS,,
been rajjid;
on the
pcrlphcry
of the city.

,_.

KN poI.lms.
OP.
REFWENCE IN ,oRDm OF
WW~W
.(Aum
EvAykTIoN)
i
,..
:: ;;. I ,,,
ET.
,
.

;,i :
.
.1 : */ i ...,*
: .!j
k, I .j .; :
j .
: i.
ii

. Davi,s, Ian.
December
ilrlanagua,

233,

i972.

wrt
6; housing
strategy,
Dec.1972
September
1972,
Oxcord Polytechnic,
'Jan.1974.
(ref.36)

:
-

2. CIIR E OXFAM Team.

I2epoFt. on Coyotepc
refugee
camp
Masaya Nicarggua.
CTIR, London,
I
1975.

(ref,21)

3. kunez, Chtii stabel

Rugama.,
Activities
of the
national
emergency
committee:
paper. at sympoSi urn on
Managua.
Earthquake
Engineering
Research
Institute,
Oakland,
California,
1973.
(ref.671

Manakua rebuilds
a
cj ty. Prom earthqugke
ruini.
Geogtaph i ca 1 magazi.ne ,

rs
;.:
r
::

-i
IvanjOstrio

4.

.
!

,
7

,,
- . ..
,>,

,-

_,

; (I
._

,/
;o@

/)

1
L

I
,\

<.

104

r
.\

_d /
>

L
\
\

TMINC OF REXONS?RUC~oN
*
There were the ma~ur pro,~rpmm<:s
I _\
of house hui Id jig - each NJ
voluntary
agencies.
In LLC~LI:I
t i rin
CARE distrlbutcil
roof ir>y,
.
materials
t!o !), 324 tl.wses. 4 alhu
housing
has iall hcen
hut1 3
\

:1litiv
:i I clcVII 191
ii Ii c
1.1:cl1

(MONTHS, mm,

llrtr flOlPf pl;r1n,

UT, the
.f Liic iii I 1 , but D 1:i :;Lj*l 1
-ithI c in many irrsl.iig:l>>j
pO/ I cwt dnd f i I 1
7u c :i .

mobi DISASTER)

.Co I UII I ;J Canildil

181 llr~me:i - 7 months
co1 oni a C;rrc44 homc::~ - 3 monI,hs
Mcr1r101ii t.c prosy cc 1.
-.
I., hf,mcs - tj mcint.lls
CKIJRN proJecL
134 lllJ~lle!~ - 5 montlls

_.

MAJOR LESSON> 1. On% yf the nayc?hcJusing

settlements
.JColonia
Canada
FOLUWMG
in Choloma
1s interesting
llizd DISASTB

concc;ii.,*uCed
centres
such
ir 1 ceqlain
as Cho loma. It) iIS set in motion il
.
spiral
of de PC:ndency
with adverse
long-term
oon :quences.
*
5 . Many
0 1 id1 e PI Ising
systems have not
1:
been casi ly mldc4 lified.
6. Most of the .e~w :rgency hou.sirrg was
.
b:lt
very ra, dly,
and there was an
nbsenbc of dsdr to? systems
from
external
SOUP8
c/e!S .

of govcrnmc:ntal
provl s 11~n of
i SllClter andnewhousln~.
3. There was al$o ii marked l;lclc
of Igcal
involvement
in the
refugec camps and in rehousing
progrummcs,
man\ of whi ch were
Cd tUra1 ly UIIsU; ted t0 1OCiil
conditions.
4. The distribution
of aid was

in that j,A!~~olved
from a
ryfugee/cafnp
01 483 fami ITies
t;p a s&ttlement
of-181
/
hogs,&+ (with 200 planned for
later
addition)..
$. There was a marked absence
?
@cc--

.
i
&
.. Thompson; Charlokte
Paul.
Survey of reconstruction
housing
in Honduras;
1% years after
Hurricalle
Fifi
_
_---_
Fifi.
Organisation
of American
.StaiZes, 1976.
1
(ref.871
. .

OF *"

b
RWENCE -

1,
r-,
i:.
II:
1

2. Cuny,
Julian
Jinx.
Rebart

Fred, Perez,
and Parker,
on the

refueee

.~.A$
Honduras
IntertecJI.
1975
(reF.34)

//
Da\ las
. 1*1:,

3.p&duras:
evaluation
iprelimlnar
de las
/ perdidas
y efectos
de1
huricane
Fifi
en la
Comportamiento
economic0 national.
i
Tegucigalpa,
30 Sept.
1971.

4.

111
i
I Induras:
Tl$tomy of a di.saster.
/ 111, London, 1975.

Etf.22)

i.
,.
&
,

Y
i

.t$

.y

-.
*,

!,I

>..-

II

DTSASTFR
TYPE

*
-632 NO. OF
NO: TSJLJRED HOUSFS
DFSTHOYED

LOCATION

10.

HOMELESS

VA
DA
GUI
VA
-

VALUE OF AID i
CURRENT VALUE

3, :5:ii~

t.icc
Turk&

Rarthi;uuke

ApI
II, 000

~.

OPULATION

OF

r: TYPES
SHELTEX
PRovIsIoN
usm
WD HaJsINo
>RovIsIoN

iuri 0s types of t.c:nt:

463 igloos

.:

%
0ccuPANcY

*
1

Very

ridge,
pole and chalet
P
types.
Iolyure~hanc
he~xagorral
igloos
provided
II;,, Oxfam.
Permanent hous itig. aftcr
2 months.

I
NO. OF
HOUSE UNITS
BUILT SINCE
DISASTER
1 ) 568
_
in 2 months
1y,t105
.
1 II

TYPES OF fEy HOUSING

The stan-dard 1~:

prc(ah house, t
ashes tos cerllcrlt
i~rorl roof.
Varic
from I;r;~nce, Fir

j sh pas t-d i sits Ler

,her frame with
nlil,
and corrugated
.s similar
designs
and and Swi ty.erland.

**

mor1tt1s

low

.
.

/.
i

Thp PIinistry
for Reconstruction
and ResettleBent
decided
that
the town of Lice was in a
highly
vulnerable
site
and
prevented
people
From rep
building
th,eir ruined
homes; A
flat
site was choben
new, safe,
1 mile from Old Lice,
and on
/
I
>

/
r

wv#--=-;

i
/
y
f--

__,

. .

,./

i7
,/ ,
/
I

polyurethane
uni a;s; i 1 was
propo/sed to build
HO0 units
hut only 463 were
actually
built.
L----/f-.--

TIMING OF W
(DAYS, YEEKS,
.Q
Tgn t s ar.5 ,..in:: u i
&he l.,%i8 new PI
-completed
da
The first
4it _ fam
..
by day 60:

GENCY PROVISION <,.,,.,+=.~

MONTHS.,FRQWD~SAS~)
,., ..
within
2 weeks.
fab homes were
54.

rnits

were produced

Ii
I
.

DISASTER
TYPE
2

IdCA'iION

DATE

No. l@LED

'NO. T?('JlJMD

NO. OF
HOUSF3s
DFSSTROYED

'VALUE OF
NO.

HOHElEss

D~AHAGE :

CURRENT
YEUWEi

&+r,thyuake

Guatemala
POPULATION

l!nknrJwn

rATIsTIcs
6. op:
r SHELTW
ID HOUSmc PROVIDED
~ovIsIoN
lO,OOO+
0

IO. OF
'MPORARY

$7 .5

8 , 7 50
uri, 1 ibrcil:i
b3,SOl
t.

b!ifJfJ
)',750

MUSE UNITS
W-LTSINCE

IOUSE UNITS
Tents.

Unknown

A$:
OCsaJPANcY

1 , Ii fj 0 , 00 3

mill
1onmil~lion

million

in aid,
$17.5
mj

ll'ion

IOI~

TyU.3

OF NW HOUSING
_r

)ISASTiB

Jnknown

Improvised
houses.
2 programmes of tempor&&
housing

i
f
4
/

I!5 JJf)VL.

v il rs

:! 2 2 ,- I 15

JO.OF .

TYPES oF:sffELTE8
PROVISICN USFD

1: :i t i ITlil t.eS

i.iil 1. . I: i t,y

0 ! il I

PRGfHSASI't$

VALUE OF AID%
CURRENT VALUE

Unknawn

No real pc
y existed,
except:
for 'a go#rnment
programme
~0
build
l($,UOO temporary
house'se
y19h m,,$$itary
support.
This
;
.,
,

wa programmed
to ta,&e 100.
da, i but was largely
in fective.

13y May 1976 ) 4 months after

the disaster,
24 differing
agencies
were implementing
reconstruction
grogrammes
using:
Block housi.ng
'
Frame/roof'
schqnes
Cement/asbestpsi
panel system
'
Wooden housin$
:
Steel,
block *o/ad combination
I

TMMG OF.-&%RcENCy PROVISI~

(DAYS, WEEK& MONTHS FROM DISASm)
instal-led
within
2-3 weeks.
Tents were
Approximately
50,000 improvised
homes
were built
within
24 hours of the
<-,I
disaster.
Cqrrugat'ed
iron sheeting
was being
distributed
for temporary
shelter
withiri
2 weeks.

a
--a...,

A.___
,i

c:
I$
kf,
u
a _
L-.. _
\.,
!P

.,
I
_----

<
3

;i,
I -_..-.
*^ ....._ -. ... - ,. _...__._.._.-__c..
. ,,
, P l?,II
I

I i
4.
A 7
: :
-.
.

,,
4

I
;

.
.

d :
:
m

,.

,.
4.

1r

c
_-- _. --

1 ,Jf/
i Y

#,,,

_ --- ..,,-;-

t:
,.

1.
1

.m
a=?-,.*

OF RECONSTRUCTION'
(MONTHS,YEARS,FROM
DISASTER)
I

TIHING
The policy
is:
1. To filter
all governmenL
P&n&ce through
iocal
recotitruction
units
in
each town.
;. To rebuild
the historic
4. towns as they were I .es.tlmatcd
time 6-6 year:;.

3. Mc;1nwh1 le

Lo bill Ld prcfnb

Ini tin1 prefrdbrIcated

housing .tias
dorIots* pray j sion frum
GCtili,lIly,
Scandinavians etc. I3y October
(5 months
cklter thee I1 rst eprLhqaakeJ
.the I LajiaD
~pJcrnmt;nt
h-ad st? 11 not. beget to hui Id

Ilomc:i costing ES-8;OOO

eiictl - which WI 1 I br: provided

~For,c;~cli Farnil:;.
l)~r::;e wi II i
I, L&:n IIC used tift.er compl eLion.
of historic
homr*s. ;LS Lourlst
~)rovl:i~on.-

ihrir

l10us0

Urll,t&

s
v..

P
s

1,
n

tAJOR LXSSON~
FtXI.LWING

1. The decision
to delegnte
relief
and reconstructIon
,a policy
to each town/village
is an interesting
oqe,
which is unljke
noqnal
pyramid
structures.
.
2. The reli.~.foperatidn:was
undertaken
in the context
of much pressure
from the
media, who had reacted

<

_ $ag;li ns t the

corrupt

'l%USDISASTE%

I.

jcilian.

earthquake.

3.
temporary
housing
(very
erisive)
then (2) rebuilt

: ... \

3.

after

the

disaster

Ital.<ari provision
wa.s still
bogged :down with bureaucracy,
and house6 were- stil I not begun.
on the Adriatic
5. The hotels
coast provided
emergency
accommodation
for 20,000 during
the winter
months.
people
l%t
ii. Many able-bodied
Frsiuli
very rapidly
to find work
and may not return.

,,a
I-

KEYSOUR&

OF
REFEBENCE-

IN OPEX OF
IMPORTANCE
,(AU@lOItS
lTuLllATIoN)

..

Dalle
tende alle
-I
barrache
Special
issue on the
village
of Osoppo
11 Dunto (Udine)
L 1 Sept.1976,.

to0

I
,-

//<.M

x,. 2
i
_i _,.,
..-

A
.--.I\

I.

_..A
,.

!LI
h 5
. _
1 i
i -.
_.;
,
>;>,.;j- .I
. ..

,
:

i(
:

1
I

.,:

_-

3. Schwartz,
Wal ter.
Quake victims
,
confront
unknown]
Guardian,
21 Sept. 1976.
Aid for the
victims:
too late,
Gunrdian,
,
21 Sept.1976.

,.x
&.

4.
.,

APPENDIX B: MAPS
1

:j

_I
,!
J
r

?_

_
-I

I :
.d

*.-

,
/-

.I
1:\.,
iI
!i
I
I
- I

.-a
..
.

Datq. % Town
icowtry
crl lg&
biiyd.&
Japan
.
Yokohama
1931 *Managua
Nicaragua
1932 Kansu
China
/
*
Province
1935,
India&Pakistan
>
1936 .-
.East Pi&Wan
2
1l-4
.
,
E

. Disaster
Earthquake & Pire
Earthqu*&e
Etiquake*
&hquake
Cyclone
I

..

1 . aHomeless- Kill&-, : No;

.,? 2oo,obO- ,l, .
250,000
.&
100,bo0/

3 (1
.,
r

,[ :

.._-....-.- __ ---,.__- .I_-----

._ .
;
,I

, ,,

.22,000

5::+
,

Disaster

_
2n

193945SECONQWORI;Dwm

- a

nnn

J,
qnn nnn.

\ I

li 4u munon3n

MLI

Town

rhte

1957

Disaster

..

1963 ,-- Skopje

_. i kW63 Mrricane Flora

1970

Ciediz

Earthquake i

Turkey
9.,
. .f

Chimbote

1970

(.

Peru

Earthquake &

il,ooo

a.

-_

.._~_. --

:/
_

E
1%
r i i

1.16

.L_.-

---+

..
>;

31

~:

homesdestroyed
500,ooo ,J-m,mY $39
.

I:

4,089

90,ooo
-

-c

;?

Town,

Date
.ad
1970
1971

- Lou;&--+----..

~Disaster----

&
\
Chittagong
Bangladesh
BANGLADESH WAR:.

Cyclone & Flood

_.

Managua

b-3

1975
---...
j976
1976
1976
1976
1976

Turkey

Lice

1,

*,

\ .

Drought
-iI+icane
Fifi
I- .Drou@t
-==QC~~pT Two
iacy
Earthquake

;
i
.-.--

--t

- rt- w
,/ ,?
,y

/
_*

/
?.

~I;

~_._. .~ -~- 1
._- _ z- =- -Lo_
---it
.
a
>c
I
3

..
./
.
,,_l . I^
/,
,;
>

,
*

I
3

I
-..

,
- - --~

.-__.

~..

-.--

..L--

.,
,

C .

Q ---&.+

*
-3.a

.;
:: <

i
>,

:I

.~

,, 90,000 36
5,000 37
Uiiknoti38
$@)o 39.

50 41
Approx. 5,000
2,385 42 s
15,000
homes destrbyed
? 222,261t , 27,000 ;&

Earthquake & Tsunami

Earthquake
,

.,

35

142,000
L ,-cc

Earthquake

-. .- i ~.
c Y,

6,000
.

i*,

.200,060240,000
50,ooo
houses destroyed

.+uawnala
CIVIL W.4R~-.Italy
Philippines
China

ANGOLAN
Friuli
:.
Tangshan

1,560,OOO
homes destroyed

Earthq&ke
%

Nicaragua

BURUNDI MASSACRE
- -1972
1974-5 CyBaUS~W-_,
Sahel --I,l972-5
Choloma etc: Honduras
1974
q
Ethiopia
1974-S
--pjq--+fi
-~-m3~~~-=,-~-

:H

1972

- _-----

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A.fr%m$ housing, 52,*53, 54

Chirnbote earthquake (Peru) (;970), 19, 51,;:n
Y _ 9?, 4.
.
,n.,.::
Aalto, Alvar, 86
1
.P
,.,. F s , -1
-I
Chiqa,.xiii
w -
.: -ad-hoc response, see indigenous response
i
3
u
adobe construction, 6, .l l? 12,35? 37,64
.histdrical re_cords; 7 1 f 8
:n ,f
prediction of earthquakes, al

1 5,i
Agency for Internatibnal Deyelop.mentx(AID),
l
_ >\

i
21,..40, 55
Y Sse!f-sufficie,ncy,,60
aid, see donor- countries, relief agencies
* Tbgshan earthquake ( 1976), xv,,71 . I b
-, ; *
Christian Aid, 36
air-raids, 86
i. *- J
4 p
e ..
. Clark Universifiy, Mass., 20 c ; 1- t
,Al$ous, Tony, 1 b
. .-.
Ambraseys, Nicholas, 8, 21, 7 1
Colombia, 23
contingency plai-iqing, 55,66
i Anatolia, archaeological evidence++ 8, 7 1
.,
conversion of existing buildings,*28, &.
Ankara, Turkey, 13
.
.
co-op$atives,
34,40
., architects, 49, 65, 91
corr.u&rted ironsheeting, for roofing,54 ,. 60,
,..
Atkinson, George, 6.5, 89
11
64;65, 76
.
* 9
,,ibrrugated zinc, 37, 54 .! ,~ %
~~Qreque=construction, 6
.I
I corruption23,.58,65,89
1 Baldassaro, Larry,65,66
i
_%
, Bangladesh. ii, 18, 19,44,49, 52, 53, 54, 60, 90 costs
of disasters, 1, 10; 21-2, 52, 55, 60, 7&
Bayer domes, 18, 50,.51, 52
.,
, 76,88 . .
k behatriour after disalters, 26, .27, 2,8,40, 44
~,;,
i
3
i
9;
_
of disaster,mitigationi lQ;,26
. 58, 69, 70, 75~276, 88-9, 91
;(. _,
1 B&gal refugee campsl#-5

_ .FCrete, archaeological evid&ce; 8,. 10, 71 .

5 ,
...,3
0, =
: Berlin, 86
Crusoe, Robinson; 25
: Bolivia, 7, M--F
- .) , ;
.s
,~ cultural rejection, 28, 5,1, 60
I @S:
,Q> .
-
brickwork, unreinforced, 8
I ,
culture
\ m---m-.
.
b
--- Bronson, William, 77-8

\gap, 4617, 63
building techniques,4,6,7-8,9,
11, 12, 19;
;patterns of,&, 16, 17,,19, 28,,73 H/j,
r-y
.
35, 37, 52, 53-4, 60, 64-6, 71,!74,96,83-4,
;
yalues ofJ5-19
f,
-9.1; $a& aZsosafety in building
!
~Ct.u$; Fred, 15, 36,55, 60,63
. ;
bulldozers, use in clearing operations, 25~
_I

a
,~cyclones, 54, 61
..
) I-.
_

by&laws, 3,4, 10,38,,39, 66, 74

yy
.
#,
*
,.
l, ;
Cambodia;55
.
.
1
,+- .< : ::--!;.
,&$sessmest.ofj 40.
camp sites: 44,55, 56, 57
J,.
,Cd -in Great Fireof London; 72 :
.,; in San Francisc,o earthquake (19$X 77 ,, j
\ /
in l-&story, 74-5, 77, 8012, ,88
: r
kndide, Voltaire, 74
:in Tokyo earthquake (1923 j, 84 1
A . ,j'
-*I-:
&pin,
Au&&a, -61,436 -- ., d t
Canvey Island floods (1953), 3 ~ , I
. CARE, 15,46
&&/house
ratio,
9
cl
:;*
, 1 t; ---,----.-_JDef~j&.$j
q5; 7 1. , ::;------CARITAS, 65
designers, 491 ho<,
t.*
Carnegie-Mellon Umversity~ 52-4
casualties; xiii, 9, 13, 19-24j.3475,40,
49, 60, Y.;developed.vjbrld,, l.l;l5,, 3 *
Yak,
.J : ..
72; 74, 83, 84, 99-l 11
housing;in, 21-2:
IY., ~ :~
disasters, $v, 22
< Cavanagh, Jon, 51 ,
.,,1
:
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pde$nitiori of, 2-3,. $&l/r

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gii .. _.

foui-&tions, 8
_
55, +5?,61,.\ ,
,
l.:,,$. .: F/i& a&qu$&~~76j~~4~27,
3, 2,jncideqce of, ld!Y~f;7.$&
16
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7;.
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/ in history: 69a8&i-o: c 1 4 -: YY:,T;;,
~~t@uj-~~$ BoSyg.Co~,~td~;.s4~~,
.
L. ,_ :
, needs 0: victims, 2&,.40 ,
+,(A
de 1
%O..
+UNDl$,,65
,, , sy . . 1: :

,
. preventioriof, see,mitigation
*- i _
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g,f f$exures, plm&qg

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: proneness to, se;! vulnerability
4
see also undef specific di&sters

Ijisasttr,Resea.rch Centre (Ohio Umversity), .

,.
1 p.; ,:*
r 757 C *
_- a
7
. Goodspeed, Charles, 56
grass roots respbnse, see indigenius$~onse
,! ,.
)rDisas-ter Resqaroh Unit (Bradford
. Un&ersity), 2,7, 12-1S
1
1 -
Great-$irq of L&d@ (1666),3, I,& 69,, $23,;
: -*.1.*
.
--j
.
-4~
!,+
disease risk, see epidemics
,.Grea; Plague of&ndor?(.l665],,.7
1 j ;,i ,.,I,
d&-rgr countries, pro&ion of ajnd&;,!23,301,
33, &I, 46-61,&S; .76,-ET: 91 !
. %-Greece,&&quake
(1965)j,29
d,, 1: 1, !<rL .;
.I
_-i
&-eemgn,
Ad&i
5
I-2

%.
,i .,,
,[. 4I;,i;s
droughts, 26, 446 *
eaFthquakes.x$, S-l&, 11,-l?, !5;-2,a&2-?5,
Guatemala~ 27, 39, SS,57j 6.!, 63-4, 76 1..,/?z~
teaching k fsa$e-b&i#dihg te&niq$$3$
,I
-26,.34, 35, 99-111, 1i3-17 ;I c . .
.36-B. ;/_-
.. ~ _/
.~,y --, i
irl.~itoky , 76-l
... i
: .,.,,&h: *
see also under sp&ific eqthquakes
, \- vulnerability of houstig, 6-, if-15, 19 ,.
i ,,:
economic. factors, 4, lo! 19,21\, 36,38,47,
Guatem~,cityear~,qll~e
(1976,),..&3~1~4-4.

%i
52, 53.;*58,6& 62,>$34,65,77, 91
2,O;21, 23&g,, 31, 3$+,+4,54-,-57-B.;..:.. :: .
_ EFICOR, 18
.f?
63-4, &$; 74, 76, 108~9 y.1I- :
A,, .,
emergency shelter., xv; 28,29,3 1,34&9-63.
Isubsequent pop&ion
grbwth, 2043 : : ,.
-corr$aris$n of damage with British
-. 77, 81,82;86,911, andpassim
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:
,Pquivale,ni+ 2 1:2
S
empfoyment
, ; 0
1
.
B
$. :
: ,;
* :.
*
location of, 34
Habitat conferknce(~978)~ 13 T:
->-. -----:-I
_ after disasters, 20, 30, 5,2:.53,-60, 65 ..
Cr.; 1
Hagan,
Toni,
44
., .
,
epidemics, 28
,i
Hmb&g,
86
1
:,:!
.
.
ss.
sm

:,
1
(
.,
erosion, 13 , +
.y cevacuationafter disasters, 28:,&-, ?!!<65, 7i,* Han Rivejfloods,7*,, 1( *
; :? .

),
.,_I,_ r .
Haftkopf, VoIker, 54~ $ : , :\:
75,78
B Evans, Sir Arthur, 8
,,
A~** pHolinshed, 7 I:
f : >,
..,M ,,_ Honduras, .HurrQne,Fifi (1974), 13, l&I-5 :
,Evelyn, John, ,I2
exploitatioh
of the poor;l2, 222.!,
,
Hope Structures, 47
j-j
,- ~j
\
2 sea-?&o e,conomic.factors . ,7, .1
- , :49;31, $2; 60> ,646, 77,:86, 88.and .,.,, :. -..;

P?exposure, risks fro

Ipq&$?+
,t
,,: -,:I,,: ., :.: j
extende$famili-es,
65
ye~rr&rlar; 4,& 8,9, j&*7;,26; 35,3$f :Y;>-:,
> 1 .,
-.
3 I.,I I
Ifamily cohesion, 2,8 d .
; , -r , . . r
1. :,\I);
I \ j see alsq extended fa&ilies ,
@w
_(i
. 8 ;
0
I.. I .b famines, 26,70,77
,,, I fatalism, I, 9AO
*CL
_
.;
.
;fmelas, 14
: ..
..:,qc<4I,*,.,;:
..
fi;es,-74; 77,78
i.
,A: a.,
/
L
to clear rubble-, 28, 65
,i * Y
risk. of, 51-2
i / . Great Fire-of London; r1.0, 69
_.. . ._ f&..L .
_.._
F&&, W. Russ@ 27&24. , *
,69; 70<9; .
/ * .Fi7i jldods,$$26@,
*. ..&. co@rof of;%-3,.4, ;7-8,, 15 : i .:;
, * I
l-&k& p --+F -+&p-._ ,_: .__- ~.__.
7 :v;.
L fodd, needsafter disasters, 26, 28

8498,

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~essina earthquake (J208); 834, 89 1i

~-Mexico,, 60

,, I 1..

,w

poverty,*l0-15j 22,23,X,
34; 40162 - A h,, Salvador, 60.
prediBiop.of disaster;, 3, 2(!:. , -.. .: San, Frar$isco ear~thy&
.- 7782,88, 89
is.
1.7, 65-6,70-l ,.8.6-B
.prefabricakn,
.
; a\,,!
1
j
-prevention Aeasures, 2&9, -10, 15, 26, 34, p ,.> San J~zI, 13
I
0
- .San Martin, Gvatemala, 27, 57:,58. :.
I
*
. 1 . 75, 88-9 \
:
Ia Save m Children Fund,:46 t ,
s-e aisi, mit&ation measu+ planning
~~&:~~&$f$s&&edraj:i)$,+89,
* i;~
33 25,46, 58, 60, 78
, -press coverage; --,
i-~~~hu~~;he;, EvF., .46,
, , ~blic$elati&s,
60
0
1 Sears&h<Wall Chalet t-ents; 56.
Pueito Rico, 13,*
,
_. ,- 1 seismic waves, see tsunirmis
n
f ,-SeouL,&or&.57
--- :-4
-, .,
<> Quarante1h.E.L;;57*
.
.I :,,
? *
*
.
@
Quo-n&t
huts,
65
~-Shakespeare;
:William,
I
.
,. .
----\/
-.- _TtT~ -.- - ---~ __.~____~
,
i,
,
.
.a
Si-Zily earthquake (196g),
l

&&&-&fi-
jb, 2?,:3_3.;30; i I-, 40,
.

:,,tindon, 724 : ib ,
,
B
m,Ej.
:
oe@hquake, 73-6.
n, 25, s8, 29,30,?6;,>
a

;.

~,

aftpr S&r Francisco &arth&rake, PJ,,>

stone ,const$etion, 4, 6,7,35; 71,
se&also 99-111

1, Syria, historical earthquakas,~71
-*
,
?&.
recycling, 30, 37
:
.
It
recurrence of disast&s, 4: k: IO, 26:;.
Tacitus;
.*
-.,.#. I Red Crescent;.54-S
P
Tangshan (China) earthquake (1976), J&, 71
Red Cross, 18, 22, 50-X
, ..-z
q .:,
Taxila earthquake (AD 25j, ?I, g$J
.,refiIgees, 72, 7684
;
/:
, temporary sheiter, 14,43,m54,63; 65-6, 74; .1
j
I refugee camps, 26,445,
531;55, :F, 6OJS:ei 75,.76, 78, 82, 84; 86,. 89,;ilnCpass,iF
-,
, k/80-2
tents, use+fter disasters, 16;$24; 25, 28,.,54-B,,
., .t g

.I
1
0 . - 6~~88 I;>
,* Reggio;q -es&a
;: earthquake (I%$), B&-4,89
r. >
0 rehabilitation, see &construction - 0jss. : in/histor~ 69, -72; 74, 77 1,
1

under useof, -28, 56-8 . n

reinforced concrete, 83.4
.
* , 7
Juan:13F
~rehe~,66,70,~1~,72,74,78,83;91
.
*

.
Terra,
tj
b relief agencies, 17, 18, 30, 34,36,39,40,
;,.:...c*Thames, r$er; 72
P ~,
*
-. 5.;
4&,49,51,34,60,67
0
.: d
b.atiag&,l-3, 10, 26 J A .I
,**; , 1 reloca-ti.on of &mmunities, IS, 16; 3p;3-8-9, ,. t$ird world, see ,un&rdey&ped
cotiatries
.
-.
:.,
65
? ii
-,,,~-~
\
Thompson,;dha&,tte
arid Paul, 51 .. *
I
:
* 0
Ricardo, David,, 77
,

, .
Y*

to-resist fires, 3, 84
toi resistflo%s,4, 7-8

._

.: , underdeveloped countries, 12, 13,

23, 26,34,38,46,
65; ye also
i United Nations, 13, 15, 33
UNDRO, xv, 22
__., i
.x

Universi;ty of BrAdfordi 2, 7, 1.2-15 L .

/ urbanisation, l&15, 19; 2Q, 21;23,4&
_.
,-U?oiian,ideas, 74, 76 - j

:.
-38-9;46, 48
, V~suvius eruption, (h.79),

70, 88 /

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