Tsunami preparedness of coastal Sri Lankan schools

Over 230,000 people across the Indian Ocean lost their lives on December 26th , 2004, as the Boxing Day tsunami swept away entire coastal communities (Pomonis et al., 2006; Rossetto et al., 2007). The tsunami claimed 35,000 victims in Sri Lanka and inflicted a catastrophic blow to the education system. Overall, the tsunami affected over 200,000 students and 3,000 teachers. It destroyed and damaged 182 schools, and affected a further 287 schools, which served as temporary shelters for the hundreds of thousands made homeless (Bitter & Edirisinghe, 2013; The Education Rehabilitation Monitor, 2009). There remains a risk of another tsunamigenic earthquake either along the Sunda Arc, from Northern Andaman to Southern Sumatra, or along the Arakan and Makran seismic zones propagating a tsunami onto Sri Lankan shores (J. Wijetunge, 2010). The question for the highly exposed schools along the Sri Lankan coast is thus – are they prepared for such an eventuality? This paper uses insights from 25 semi-structured interviews with school principals to evaluate whether Sri Lankan schools are better prepared for a tsunami now than in 2004. The interviews reveal that several key measures have been adopted since 2004 but that fundamental gaps in school tsunami preparedness persist. As expressed by the school principals, an oncoming tsunami is the threat they are least prepared for

Tsunami preparedness within Sri Lanka's education system

Asked what hazard posed the greatest threat to their school, the principals of coastal schools in the Galle, Ampara and Batticaloa districts of Sri Lanka overwhelmingly responded “tsunami”. This result is unsurprising considering the scale and trauma caused by the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. This tsunami claimed over 35,000 victims in Sri Lanka, a third of whom were children. It damaged and destroyed 182 schools, and a further 287 served as camps for internally displaced persons. Given that Sri Lanka is far from all potential sources of earthquake-induced tsunami, and that there is time for early warning and evacuation, it is crucial that coastal schools are prepared and ready to act. This study uses semi-structured interviews with school principals and regional education and disaster management officials to gain insights into the tsunami preparedness of the Sri Lankan education sector. Overall, our findings show that schools are heavily reliant on tsunami early warning towers for their warning, yet only half of the 430 Sri Lankan schools exposed to tsunami are within audible range of a tsunami early warning tower. It is crucial therefore that alternative and backup early warning channels are established where needed. However, the interviews show that there is a very low level of baseline hazard preparedness. There are few or no fire drills, let alone tsunami evacuation plans or drills. The school principals express the view clearly that the education system in Sri Lanka is ill-prepared for a future tsunami. We find however that there are opportunities to involve existing safety committees in school preparedness and in the development of evacuation plans; and to exploit existing regular teacher curriculum training events to develop capacities in emergency response and evacuation. Importantly, experiences from a past tsunami drill with Sri Lankan communities emphasise the importance of holding regular school practice drills as well as “end-to-end” (from tsunami detection to tsunami evacuation) community evacuation exercises

Engineering surveys of Sri Lankan schools exposed to tsunami

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected 5% of Sri Lanka’s schools, severely damaging 108 and destroying 74. The catastrophe highlighted the critical role of schools in providing educational continuity during community recovery. Sri Lanka has since rehabilitated and rebuilt most of the destroyed schools along the coastline. However, there is a limited understanding of current levels of school exposure to tsunami. This hampers preparedness and risk reduction interventions that can improve community and educational tsunami resilience. This paper presents a multi-disciplinary school exposure database relevant to both vulnerability and loss modelling. The repository includes data on 38 schools and 86 classroom buildings, surveyed across the coastal districts of Ampara, Batticaloa and Galle in Sri Lanka, which were heavily affected by the 2004 tsunami. A new engineering rapid visual survey tool is presented that was used to conduct the physical assessment of schools for the exposure repository. School damage mechanisms observed in past tsunami inform the survey forms, which are designed to capture information at both school compound and building levels. The tsunami engineering survey tools are universally applicable for the visual assessment of schools exposed to tsunami. The surveys show that most Sri Lankan school buildings can be classified into three building archetypes. This means that future risk assessments can be conducted considering a small number of index buildings that are based on these archetypes with differing partition arrangements and structural health conditions. The surveys also raise three significant concerns. Firstly, most schools affected by the 2004 tsunami remain in the same exposed locations without any consideration for tsunami design or strengthening provisions. Secondly, Sri Lankan schools are fragile to tsunami loading and many of the schools in the Galle district suffer from severe corrosion, which will further affect their tsunami vulnerability. Thirdly, schools do not appear prepared for tsunami, and do not have adequate tsunami warnings nor evacuation protocols in place. These observations raise the urgent need to mitigate tsunami risk, including a holistic plan for tsunami retrofitting and for interventions to improve the tsunami preparedness of schools in Sri Lanka

Hybrid reconnaissance mission to the 30 October 2020 Aegean sea earthquake and tsunami (Izmir, Turkey & Samos, Greece): description of data collection methods and damage

On 30 October 2020, an earthquake of Mw 6.9 hit the Aegean coasts of Turkey and Greece. The epicentre was some 14 km northeast of Avlakia on Samos Island, and 25 km southwest of Seferihisar, Turkey, triggering also a tsunami. The event has been followed by >4,000 aftershocks up to Mw 5.2 The Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) has immediately gathered a team to conduct a hybrid reconnaissance study,bringing together remote and field investigation techniques. The mission took place between 16 November and 17 December, inclusive of three sets of field study carried out by the field crews for building damage assessment in the affected areas in Turkey and Greece under the coordination of the remote team. The mission also aimed to assess the viability of alternative data sources for an appraisal of the future viability of hybrid missions. This paper summarises the mission setup and findings, and discusses the benefits of and difficulties encountered during this hybrid reconnaissance activity

Impact of nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase inactivation on the glucose stimulation of insulin secretion by mouse pancreatic beta‐cells

Background and aim: Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) contributes to NADPH production in the mitochondrial matrix of eukaryotic cells. Its inactivation in beta‐cells was previously shown to markedly reduce glucose‐induced rises in ATP, calcium and insulin secretion, but these effects vary between experimental models. We recently found that, in islets from C57BL/6J mice that express a truncated inactive NNT, glucose does not reduce the mitochondrial glutathione redox state measured using GRX1‐roGFP2, in contrast to its effect in islets from C57BL/6N mice that express wild‐type NNT (abstract by Laila RB Santos). Here, we re‐evaluated the role of NNT by simultaneously measuring key stimulus‐secretion coupling events in islets from C57BL/6J and C57BL/6N mice perifused in the presence of increasing glucose concentrations. Results: 1) The glucose‐induced rise in NAD(P)H autofluorescence was significantly larger in N vs. J islets (normalised to the fluorescence in 0.5 mM glucose or after addition of FCCP). 2) The glucose‐induced changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and cytosolic calcium concentration were similar in both types of islets (rhodamine 123 fluorescence normalised to that measured after addition of FCCP). 3) The insulin/DNA content ratio was similar in both types of islets, but the glucose stimulation of insulin secretion was 2 to 2.5 times higher in N vs. J islets (normalized to insulin or DNA content). 4) The stimulation of insulin secretion by high potassium was 2 to 2.5 times higher in N vs. J islets at any glucose concentration, so that the amplifying action of glucose was similar in both types of islets. Conclusion: The lack of functional NNT in J vs. N islets markedly reduced their glucose‐induced rise in NAD(P)H autofluorescence and insulin secretion without affecting mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarisation and rise in cytosolic calcium concentration. These results suggest that the insulin secretion defect of J vs. N islets lies at a step distal to calcium influx

Hybrid Reconnaissance Mission to the 30 October 2020 Aegean Sea Earthquake and Tsunami (Izmir, Turkey & Samos, Greece): Description of Data Collection Methods and Damage

On 30 October 2020, an earthquake of Mw 6.9 hit the Aegean coasts of Turkey and Greece. The epicentre was some 14 km northeast of Avlakia on Samos Island, and 25 km southwest of Seferihisar, Turkey, triggering also a tsunami. The event has been followed by &amp;gt;4,000 aftershocks up to Mw 5.2 The Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) has immediately gathered a team to conduct a hybrid reconnaissance study, bringing together remote and field investigation techniques. The mission took place between 16 November and 17 December, inclusive of three sets of field study carried out by the field crews for building damage assessment in the affected areas in Turkey and Greece under the coordination of the remote team. The mission also aimed to assess the viability of alternative data sources for an appraisal of the future viability of hybrid missions. This paper summarises the mission setup and findings, and discusses the benefits of and difficulties encountered during this hybrid reconnaissance activity.</jats:p

Hybrid Reconnaissance Mission to the 30 October 2020 Aegean Sea Earthquake and Tsunami (Izmir, Turkey &amp; Samos, Greece): Description of Data Collection Methods and Damage

On 30 October 2020, an earthquake of Mw 6.9 hit the Aegean coasts of Turkey and Greece. The epicentre was some 14 km northeast of Avlakia on Samos Island, and 25 km southwest of Seferihisar, Turkey, triggering also a tsunami. The event has been followed by &amp;gt;4,000 aftershocks up to Mw 5.2 The Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) has immediately gathered a team to conduct a hybrid reconnaissance study, bringing together remote and field investigation techniques. The mission took place between 16 November and 17 December, inclusive of three sets of field study carried out by the field crews for building damage assessment in the affected areas in Turkey and Greece under the coordination of the remote team. The mission also aimed to assess the viability of alternative data sources for an appraisal of the future viability of hybrid missions. This paper summarises the mission setup and findings, and discusses the benefits of and difficulties encountered during this hybrid reconnaissance activity.</jats:p