Morocco Survivors Denouce Quake Response

the death toll is now up to 554, and rising because emergency response is slow.

this is problematic because the quake hit a predominately Berber region. Morocco is poor, but this region is even poorer because they are an indigenous minority in a Muslim country. They have been treated as second class citizens, not trusted by the government, and the fact they are not getting aid quickly enough is adding to their grief and helplessness.

As I blogged earlier, a lot of the death that is caused by quakes in these poorer countries is due to the inadequacy of their architecture. A 6.5 earthquake in los angeles or san francisco will cause some damage, but probably no one would die. firefighters and other rescuers would arrive within minutes. people are prepared with earthquake kits, extra water, flashlights, radios and the like.

Even if it were not possible to have the architecture student project I was proposing, at least it should be possible to ensure that governments in quake-prone regions have some earthquake emergency program and training so that people don't suffer for days on end waiting for relief from the international community.

a little pro-activity would save so many lives. Sure, not all poorer countries are run by "honest" governments, but if the red cross/crescent were to anticipate the needs, they could do a lot more help by taking pro-active rather than reactive steps to ensure there is adequate earthquake responses.

surely this makes sense since we have seen much more active earthquake activity in the last few years?