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Saturday, November 7, 2015

What to do in an earthquake: in Nicaragua, the USA and worldwide

At the World Travel Market at Excel exhibition centre in London I was given an attention-getting hat which I wore last night when I gave a talk on travel to a Toastmasters speakers' group.

I don't know what this hat protects you from. I presume the sun. But those spikes might come in handy frightening people nearby to keep a safe distance. Two of my friends leaned in to speak to me then told me they nearly got a sharp point in their eye. 


Nicaragua is the largest country in central America, and one of the safest, they say. 

(That's what I was told on a visit to one of the Greek island's. The welcome speech from the tourism minister to the visiting travel writers was interrupted by a mini earthquake. The earthquake didn't stop us touring Greece. Nor did it stop me visiting California regularly. But as a precaution I do return library books and pay all bills and debts before I take a holiday. I also read all the advice on what to do in an emergency.)

If you are not into adventure holidays, Nicaragua's website is a great place for armchair travellers to visit.You can visit the cultural capital and two main cities with their colonial Latin American architecture. (National language Spanish, no surprise, with lots of English spoken, plus a native language.)

Outside the cities, the big attractions are scenery, sports - trekking around volcanoes, which I class as a dangerous sport, and watching wildlife. If you want to get involved, there are programmes for volunteering, monitoring the effect of volcanic activity on wildlife, conserving turtles and even chasing natures' s prettiest but most delicate and elusive creature, the beautiful butterfly.

Today I was looking at the information on Nicaragua and I was reminded that Nicaragua is in central America. I came across the US government information site and clicked on the link to what to do in an earthquake. The site says that every state in the USA is prone to earthquakes. So I suppose the fact that Nicaragua is as well, will be no deterrent to the adventurous American tourist.

I knew that California is prone to earthquakes. I visited San Francisco after the most recent major earthquake in the late 1900s. (No I wasn't around in the famous one in the early 1900s when singer Al Jolson said, "You ain't heard nothing yet", referring to either his own singing or the earthquake or both.)

I remember in San Francisco standing on the roof of a skyscraper hotel when the PR told me that the building was designed to sway when shaken. Also the reason why the rooftop reclining sun lingers were chained down was not to prevent theft but to prevent them being thrown about during an earthquake. I associate earthquakes with crevices opening up in the earth and tidal waves. However, in a building or near a building one of the dangers is being hit by falling objects.

If you want to read the US government advice on what to do in an earthquake go to this site. What I remember after my first reading is that if you are in a kitchen, dining room, living room or office, crawl under a desk to protect your head, as in an aircraft, used your arms to protect your head, and in bed use your pillow for protection. Keep water and food nearby. Also documents and a fully charged

If trapped signal by tapping pipes or using a whistle. Maybe I should add a whistle to my traveller's first aid kit. As the boy scout's motto says, be prepared. If you want attention, get a whistle, or wear a Nicaraguan hat.

http://www.ready.gov/earthquakes
nicaragua tourism
http://visitnicaragua.us

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.
Wonderful, weird, wine, words.

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