There are approximately 16 volcanoes in the Caribbean, a few of the best-known ones being: Mount Pelee in Martinique, Kick ‘em Jenny off the coast of Grenada, Langs Soufriere in Montserrat, and Soufriere in St. Vincent. In the Caribbean today, volcanic activity takes place very often, particularly in some of the extremely active volcanoes such as Langs Soufriere in Montserrat. Compared to the high occurrence of volcanic activity in the Caribbean, earthquake activity is quite limited. In recent history, very few major earthquakes took place. The most notable are ones are those that took place in Tobago in 1977, which reached 5.6 on the Richter scale, and one in Jamaica in 1993, which hit 5.4 on the Richter scale. The one in Jamaica showed up all structural faults in the buildings, and because the epicentre was on the island itself, as opposed to in the sea as expected, made it worse. Other than the ‘minor’ earthquakes mentioned above, only two major earthquake disasters come to mind that have occurred in the past. In Trinidad in 1766, an earthquake disaster caused the inhabitants there to ask the King of Spain (their ruler at the time) to allow other non-Spanish people to settle on the island to help rebuild the country. In Jamaica in 1692, another earthquake killed over 2000 persons and destroyed almost the whole capital of Port Royal. All this damage goes to show that in those times, those countries definitely were not able to deal with the earthquakes. So while the statement is definitely true when pertaining to those years, in recent times, with so little earthquake activity and the fact that the earthquakes that occurred, did so long ago, Caribbean countries have not been required to deal with earthquakes in this modern era. With population increase and the development of countries in the Caribbean, the effect of the earthquakes would be completely different than when they occurred in the past, most likely worse. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult to effectively prepare for and respond to any earthquake activity in the Caribbean; it is almost like asking the Caribbean people to be prepared for a snow blizzard, we have no idea what to expect.
In a place like Japan where earthquakes take place regularly, they have many mechanisms in place that successfully reduce the amount of damage caused by the earthquakes. This comes with years of recording the extent of damage of past earthquakes and figuring out ways to counteract them until their methods were at the best that they could be. In Japan, buildings and cities are made more earthquake resistant in terms of building structure, because over the years, contractors have found the best structure that can withstand the earthquakes. Also, public awareness of earthquakes is high and they have improved their earthquake prediction skills. Compared to the Caribbean where preparedness for earthquakes is limited, one can see that the Caribbean is not in a position to effectively respond to any big earthquake activity.
Because of the high volcanic activity in the Caribbean, many systems have been put in place to counteract the damage caused by volcanic activity. There is a good public awareness when it comes to volcanoes, and many research organisations track the volcanic activity and give the necessary warnings. Organisations like The Montserrat Volcano Observatory in Montserrat and the Seismic Research Unit at the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, both play a major role in predicting volcanic activity and sending out appropriate messages to the public. For example, for Kick ‘em Jenny there is a special warning system; it is a colour coded system with colours from green to yellow to orange to red, with green being when the volcano is silent and inactive, and red being when volcanic activity is occurring and the warning alert levels are at their highest. CDERA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency) also plays a role in sending out aid to Caribbean countries that have experienced disaster. CDERA is a response agency for all disasters in the Caribbean and is probably the only system set up that can probably aid in response after an earthquake; although they too lack experience in responding to earthquakes, it would still give hope to the victims.
In conclusion, with the latter paragraph showing the many methods in place to reduce damage caused by volcanic activity in the Caribbean; compared to the lack of knowledge of earthquake response illustrated in the second paragraph, one can see why I agree with the statement that Caribbean people find it hard to respond to earthquake hazards. If earthquakes occurred more frequently, then maybe in coming years, ways of counteracting their damage will improve in the Caribbean, and they would not be the devastating events that they were in the past.
