A weekly round-up of news, articles and surveys to make your next emergency better. Have a suggestion for the round-up? Contact me at abetteremergency@gmail.com.

In the United States…

I started a discussion in the Emergency Management Professionals Group on LinkedIn about how disaster relief seems bogged down for Hurricane Sandy. It’s an unfortunate truth for every major event seen in the United States. Good discussion — you should join if you’re interested in the topic. Else, this article on “How Local Governments Hinder Our Response to Natural Disasters” offers some ideas on why and how pre-planning can help.

You bet this headline caught my eye, Yellowstone Super Volcano Threatens Two Thirds of USA. Quick read.

If the idea of a super volcano doesn’t cause worries, then how about, Chinese nuclear disaster ‘highly probable’ by 2030. I hope the authors are wrong.

I personally feel this event is on the horizon, and will set a new bar in catastrophic events in North America, B.C. not prepared for severe earthquake.

Seafloor Sensors Listen to Quake Zone Rumblings. Hopefully this proves to be beneficial in either preparedness or validating the threat.

There’s valuable work under way in earthquake pre-planning and preparation, CSU researchers collapse building to test earthquake retrofit systems. Pretty neat.

Around the world…

I’m not sure if I am ready for this yet, but credit for imagination: Japanese designer’s chair doubles as hard hat to protect from falling earthquake debris.

I wonder if this has application for other countries as well? Russia Set to Put Mobile Firms In Charge of Disaster Alerts.

I give Turkey credit for dedicating funds for this, €200 million for earthquake protection in Turkey.

Thought I was paying attention to global events, until I saw this: A photo exhibition keeps the impact of Rayong’s oil spill fresh in people’s minds.

Finally, Only 56% of Japan’s shelters found quake-resistant. If this is the state of affairs in Japan, a country I consider to be a well prepared for earthquake threats, I have to wonder about how shelters would hold up in the United States.

Thanks to everyone who’s contributed thus far!