The Evacuation Training Problems of an Earthquake in China

Abstract

WenChuan Earthquake took place on May 12, 2008 in China. 69,227 were confirmed dead, but Shangzao junior high school was a miracle. There was no death or injured. It took over two thousand students and teachers only one minute and thirty-six seconds to evacuate safely from the two 5-floor buildings. One of the miracle resulted from their continuous evacuating training every semester. The paper summarized the evacuating experience of Shangzao junior high school firstly. Other trainings from high school to elementary school were analyzed after the earthquake. Be short of the guidance and organizations, there were some problems in the trainings. Speed should be focused as the No.1. Order is the most important especially in elementary school. Students should be told to run downstairs in two lines if the stairs were not wide enough. It was dangerous for students to put books on their heads while they ran down, because it led to tumble easily.