Strong Earthquake hits Greek Island

Last Monday a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 hit the western Greek island of Kefalonia.  Unfortunately, a second earthquake of similar magnitude hit just a week after, destroying dozens of structures across the Greek island. Earthquakes have been shaking the island on numerous occasions this past week leaving thousands of residents fleeing their homes. The Kefalonia mayor as well as seismologists announced the news of the quakes and strongly urged residents to leave their houses temporarily. The mayor even attempted to arrange boats to head to Lixouri, which has been the closest area to the epicenter of the quakes, but was unsuccessful due to the high winds in that area.  This is the area that has been the most seriously damaged and therefore, most dangerous for residents to stay in.  Fortunately, despite the structural damages that was caused due to the quake, only minor injuries had been reported.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Greece has experienced this sort of crises. Kefalonia was devastated in 1953 when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, lasting for three days and killing hundreds, injuring thousands and destroying a substantial amount of buildings on the island. Since Greece seems to be a red zone for earthquakes what can the country do to prevent as much damage and fatalities when dealing with this crises?

First and foremost, a crisis such as an earthquake is a natural disaster crisis and is almost impossible to prevent. Instead, what people must accomplish is being able to effectively communicate the crises in order to keep the residents in that city or country safe.  In order to effectively communicate the risk, the mayor or a communication management team bust get the residents moving by letting them know what is happening and what they should do.  Speed of communication, trust and credibility, and giving the factual content is all mandatory elements of effectively letting the audience know what the crisis is. This is a macro-level crisis as it deals with all residents living in Kefalonia therefore; an earthquake response plan and team need to be put in place in order to inform the people. This can be achieved by using a communication process approach whereby the communication is represented by the traditional model of communication. This is easier, faster and reaches a wider audience in order to get the attention of the public to inform them that an earthquake is coming. The key here is not  eliminating the crisis (earthquake) but managing it and planning accordingly so that there is a reduction in injury and damages.

Link:http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/02/02/strong_earthquake_hits_greek_island.html