American Red Cross response to Doug Copp.

Doug Copp, the main proponent of the 'triangle of life' theory, is an extremely controversial figure. There is a lot discussion, rebuts, corrections and even open slandering of him and his theories on the internet. This is mainly due to the fact that his articles have claimed that an earthquake will usually cause a 'pancake collapse', where the roof/ upper floors' structure simply falls onto the foundation of the building, and that this immense weight of timber, steel or concrete can crush objects. These objects, such as tables or desks, are what a person performing the 'Drop Cover and Hold on" survival method would be likely to be sheltering under. The problem with Copp's advice is that it is misleading for some populations, depending upon where they live and what kind of infrastructure is common in their area. This response from the American Red Cross to Copp's theory outlines why the triangle of life survival method is not as safe as the 'Drop Cover and Hold on' method in most US buildings: http://www.bpaonline.org/Emergencyprep/arc-on-doug-copp.html

 For example, here is a photo of the classroom which we were carrying out our experiment in on Wednesday:

As can be seen in this image, our roof, in fact the entire building, is made from timber. The ceiling consists of wooden planks inside and wooden shingles outside of the timber frame. The tables which fill the classroom are made of timber which is about 5cm thick and they are supported by sturdy steel frames. 

It would make no sense  in this room to lie next to the desks during an earthquake, you would simply be injured by the falling glass, lights and wooden boards. Just my banging a fist on one the tables, it is clear that  falling material from the structure above would be unlikely to to break through to anyone hiding underneath, so it makes more sense to lie underneath the tables to avoid injury.

However, it seems plausible that if our roof was made from a more dense material, perhaps concrete, that falling material could cause the tables to be damaged, or even crushed if the falling piece was large enough. According to Copp's theory, this would result in a compacted table (crushing anyone underneath), which would act a support for the concrete slab, leaving a void by it's side where the concrete was supported from the ground. Potentially, a person could survive in this void until rescue. Whether or not this actually occurs is what our experiment seeks to model.