Sunday, July 17 2016 03:00 - BANG!

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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You have lived here in the DR in the same general area for years.

It's early Sunday morning July 17th. You are fast asleep. At appropriately 03:00 a 6.9 magnitude earthquake lets loose on the Cibao fault centred near La Colorada. The big shake lasts for 90 seconds and after shocks are occurring about once every 5 minutes with varying degrees of intensity. The earthquake is felt along the entire north coast from the Haitian border to Panta Cana and as far south as the outskirts of Santo Domingo. Damage along the north coast is extensive to structures, infrastructure and the natural landscape. There is lots of dust in the air from collapsing concrete. There is no electricity, flowing water from the tap, no light except for some sporadic fires and the occasional explosion of a propane tank off in the distance. You can hear people wailing in every direction.

Highway 5 is a mess. Many sections have collapsed leaving gaping holes. In other spots, trees, electric poles, rocks and mud cover the road surface. You cannot drive more than a few miles in any direction from where you are. Puerto Plata airport is closed as the runways now have 1 foot wide cracks in them.

You and your family appear to be ok. There is some damage to your house, there is lots of broken glass on the floor, most of your furniture is not where it was when you went to bed. Bookcases have fallen over, your pictures have fallen off the wall, most of your kitchen cabinets are now empty, the contents are all over the place.

The after shocks continue. It is now 06:00 and the sun has just come up. Big crack in your concrete pool, all the water has drained away. There are holes in your roof, some walls are damaged to varying degrees, but the structure is still standing for the most part. Some of your neighbors have not fared so well. You can see some houses that have been reduced to pile of rubble. You know people were home in there last night. The smell of propane is in the air. Every footstep kicks up a cloud of concrete dust that has begun settling on the surface of everything. You cough a lot...

Yes it is a disaster, yes it is bad and yes you are right in the middle of it all. This is the Dominican Republic. Help being what it may, is a few days off. The roads have to be cleared first. You are going to be on your own for awhile. What are you going to do? What can you do? What have you done to prepare for such a scenario? How are you going to handle to locals who now have unfettered access to your neighborhood and who in some cases are already asking for your assistance, while others are gathering up everything they can find? To make matters worse, on the horizon you can see rain clouds...

In any extreme situation you probably cannot survive for more than:

3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food.

My fellow Residents, please feel free to discuss.
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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As I have read from your posts over the past two years you are prepared for almost everything that could and could not happen here, but for an occurrence like that you can't really prepare.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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How are you going to handle to locals who now have unfettered access to your neighborhood and who in some cases are already asking for your assistance, while others are gathering up everything they can find? To make matters worse, on the horizon you can see rain clouds...

What??? How are you going to handle locals??? In this scenario these "locals" will be the ones teaching you how to survive, just like they survived after major hurricanes which mean no internet, and no electricity for months. The "locals" will teach you how to cook outside (as most do in the campos) how to collect water from rivers and sterilise it (as many do). How to find and eat food without buying it wrapped in plastic from Playero. How to build a shelter. In the event of a major earthquake a crack in your pool is the least of your worries.

Matilda
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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As I have read from your posts over the past two years you are prepared for almost everything that could and could not happen here, but for an occurrence like that you can't really prepare.

Sure you can. Obviously having some water and food on hand helps. Having some money might be a good idea as there certainly will be no banks open and no credit cards accepted for a while. Not being on the last 1/8 of a tank of propane might make a bbq useful for a bit longer. If you can't stay where you live now, do you have anywhere to go, will anyone come looking for you. I bet the cellphone won't work. A cheap satellite phone can be had for a little over $300 these days.

Just saying a little forethought can go a long way. Like those in LA, we have been told it's going to happen here someday.
 
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beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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Take the first plane outta here and come back once it's all fixed.

If by any freak reason there does happen to be an earthquake at the time you mention, please find a way to post six numbers on DR1. I'll use them to play the lotto!
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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What??? How are you going to handle locals??? In this scenario these "locals" will be the ones teaching you how to survive, just like they survived after major hurricanes which mean no internet, and no electricity for months. The "locals" will teach you how to cook outside (as most do in the campos) how to collect water from rivers and sterilise it (as many do). How to find and eat food without buying it wrapped in plastic from Playero. How to build a shelter. In the event of a major earthquake a crack in your pool is the least of your worries.

Matilda

I know how to do most of that already. I have no interest in living like that in the long term. Truth be told, after a disaster of a magnitude that will disrupt life for months, I'm out of here as quickly as is practical. I have several plans of varying costs and practicality depending on the circumstances. Some desperate people do some pretty horrendous things in times of crisis. It is perhaps a bit naive to suggest that we will be sitting by the fire roasting chicken and singing folk songs and getting along.

The idea here was not to be confrontational but to see how long term residents see themselves getting through or getting out of a bad situation.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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Lucky you if you have the option to get out of here. Those, like me, who live here, married to Dominicans, step kids, foster kids cannot just get up and go. The same I assume as those in New Orleans after the hurricane. You do the best you can to get through and rebuild. Those expats who have nothing to lose here, who rent rather than buy and who have no relationships with the country will probably leave. The rest will stay and help the country and the people. I think you might find that Dominicans actually help each other in times of crisis a little more than some other nationalities.

matilda
 

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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Actually the only thing that can really make a difference in survival is money.

Make sure you are adequately insured.

This is a big island and I would very much doubt the scenario you describe would be as catastrophic as you predict. It would have to be a world event earthquake to disrupt the whole country. Although there is no real building code per se, the buildings are quite well made with plenty of steel re-bar and the majority of building sand comes form rivers. As opposed to Haiti, where very little re-bar is used and most of it is corroded internally due to use of beach sand for concrete mix.

If there was an earthquake that massive, I think the resulting tsunamis would wipe us out anyway.
 

Derfish

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Jan 7, 2016
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My own self I have spent weeks volunteering and donating after several different hurricanes, when I had tools and was younger and could do more physical work than at present. In Komestead after Andrew We actually got arrested for selling bags of ice for $2.00 that we had paid $.99 for. Price gouging the police called it. I asked the judge when we were presented to him How much was a bag of ice a week ago "DELIVERED?" He dismissed the charges against us.But to the present: My lady's sister lives off in the jungle near Imbert and if we could get that far they probably could cook together if I could use my debit card and get pesos to buy food for everyone. I expect the banking system would be up and going quite rapidly. The moto concho guys would find their way around the holes inn the streets and be glad for the extra business.
Der Fish
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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I deliberately picked a fault line close to the north coast and in the scenario said the quake was felt PC to SD I did not say and certainly didn't mean to imply the whole island was a smoldering pile of rubble; Just that those on the north coast wouldn't be able to do much travelling for awhile, commerce would be disrupted and it would be quite awhile until things are brought back to the way they are today.

Can I live without electricity for 2 or 3 months while the system is rebuilt? Do I want to? I have never claimed to be Dominican. I am not. I just choose to live here for as long as I decide to do so. It's only my wife and I and a few close friends we have met. I can appreciate Matilda's perspective and I am sure many others are in the same boat so to speak. I was going to pull a Cat. 5 hurricane out of my hat because the idea of the individual choice to stay or flee sounded interesting but I didn't so here we are.

I'm in the downhill part of my life. I'm all about simple. I'm not buying real estate here or anywhere else. The plan was always to be nimble and not get trapped somewhere due to circumstance. If I have to bug-out, I'll be abandoning a bunch of stuff, pretty much everything I own in the way of personal effects, but I can buy underwear and a TV somewhere else if need be.

I have no idea how long it would take to reopen Hwy 5 the only way to really get anywhere from here. Nor do I know how long it would take to repair a damaged runway. If I can get to a working airport, I'll catch the first available flight to anywhere I can take a shower and then move on to somewhere I would rather be. Planes might not be able to land in Puerto Plata but helicopters certainly could. So help is on the way, it's just going to take a little bit of time to get to everyone and many may have to make their way to where the help is. How many expats are prepared for a hand to mouth existence for any length of time?

Those rooted in this country will undoubtedly do that. Those without such encumbrances, would they choose to stick it out for however long or would they go on vacation somewhere else until AC works again? If you left, would you come back to live here again after an extended absence?
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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If there was an earthquake that massive, I think the resulting tsunamis would wipe us out anyway.

That would be an amazing tsunami to be able to reach the Cibao valley.

Also, while tsunamis are normally caused be earthquakes, not all large earthquakes cause tsunamis.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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When I lived in Juan Dolio, the British embassy decided to use my house as the place they would decamp to to help all the British citizens in the event of a disaster hitting Santo Domingo. They came to my house to check their satellite phone system worked - which it did. It was interesting to know that the embassies are actually planning for disasters and ensuring they have plans in place. I don't live there now - so no idea what the plan is lol.

Matilda
 

Derfish

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Jan 7, 2016
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Actually the only thing that can really make a difference in survival is money.
.

Not quite. If you are caught beneath a concrete roof that has collapsed on top of you even if you have several thousand dollars in your pocket it will no more make a difference than if you only had 20 pesos if the water was rising because the river had changed direction because of an earth quake!