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Earthquake Awareness Week to be
observed Jan 13-19

JIS
Saturday, January 12,
2008

THE Office of Disaster
Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) will again focus the
nation's attention on preparing for an earthquake during Earthquake
Awareness Week, to be observed from January 13 to 19.

The agency's director general,
Ronald Jackson, said that, "it is the earthquake phenomenon, with
its attendant sub-hazards that pose the greatest risk."

"It registers the greatest single
natural hazard event in terms of losses to life, property and the
economy in general," he added.

This year's theme is: 'For safety's
sake, be ready for the next earthquake', as ODPEM stresses the
importance of putting in place a disaster and risk reduction plan
looking at preparedness and safety procedures before the event
happens.

Jackson pointed out that
earthquakes have been a significant hazard throughout the historical
development of many countries in the Caribbean, and in recent years
there has been a marked increase in seismic activity regionally and
globally.

Citing Jamaica's high earthquake
risk profile, the director general said that on February 4, 2007,
"the country experienced a tremor recorded here by our seismograph
at 5.4 in magnitude, resulting from an event which occurred 75 miles
north, north west of Montego Bay with an actual magnitude of
6.1."

"Interestingly, it was said that
scientists held dialogue around the possibility of an event
measuring 6.5 in magnitude just offshore the south coast of Cuba
generating a tsunami," he added.

Recalling the earth tremor Jamaica
experienced in 1993, Jackson pointed out that, "as we seek to begin
the observance of Earthquake Awareness Week on January 13, we will
be doing so on the anniversary of the 1993 event, which displaced
518 families and generated $152 million in insurance
claims."Activities for Earthquake Awareness Week 2008 include
earthquake drills and presentations as well as expositions in
communities islandwide. The activities are to be conducted in
conjunction with the Parish Councils, the Ministry of Education and
the Jamaica Library Service, as well as businesses, civic and
community-based organistions.

The Week will commence with a
Church Service at the St Andrew Parish Church, which was chosen to
highlight the fact that it has existed since 1655 and has therefore
survived numerous major national catastrophic earthquakes and other
events.

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