Shaken Grounds: Earthquakes Are Shaking Up Asia — Are We Prepared?

When the Earth Shakes, We Panic and Then We Raise the Buildings

You never forget the sound. It’s not quite thunder. It’s not quite a train. It’s deeper. Heavier. And it rumbles your stomach before you realize that the ground’s moving.

That’s what millions experienced recently throughout Asia — some trapped in crumbling structures, others fleeing barefoot into streets illuminated only by the light of their phone.

This year alone, there have been major earthquakes in Myanmar, Taiwan and parts of Tibet. Thousands are dead. Entire neighborhoods gone. And yet, once the dust settles, one question looms:

Why weren’t we ready?

The Quake That Hit Hardest

March 28, 2025. It was just another Thursday in Myanmar until it wasn’t. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake shattered the region, between Mandalay and Naypyidaw. Temples cracked. Roads split. Families in the rubble disappeared.

More than 5,000 did not survive. Thousands more remain in hospital beds, without limbs, homes or hope.

And so while people around the region offered prayers and aid, those who had lived through it were left asking something deeper: Could this have been prevented?

Asia’s Shaky Reality

There are not uncommon earthquakes in Asia. In fact, they’re expected. The region is essentially sitting on a fault line waiting to record the next quake, from the Himalayas to the Pacific coastlines.

In the first few months of 2025 alone:

• There was a 5.8 quake in Taiwan
• A 7.1 quake hits Tibet
• Light tremors were felt as far away as Indonesia, the Philippines and parts of Japan

We’ve seen this before. We’ll see it again. The earth isn’t the problem. Our denial is.

PREPAREDNESS — One Word Nobody Wants to Discuss

Let’s be honest. Earthquakes don't kill people. Buildings do. Broken bridges do. Collapsed hospitals do.

Now, I know that sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. A strong quake strikes Tokyo and people duck beneath fortified desks. An earthquake strikes a village in rural Asia, and the dead lie buried under the concrete they thought was a ceiling.

There’s a trend here — and not just in the shaking.

For many Asian nations, it is not about preparing for what we know is going to happen. Construction proceeds without inspections. “We don’t do drills at schools.” Disaster response plans gather dust in neglected binders on neglected shelves.

And the result? Each tremor turns into tragedy.

Plot Lines That Do Not Constitute Stories

After the Myanmar quake, stories began to emerge.

A 13-year-old boy survived for nearly 48 hours trapped under rubble, drinking rainwater that seeped through the cracks of concrete.

A newlywed couple was rescued from the top floor of a hotel because the stairwell had fully collapsed — and they were fortunate enough to have cellphone service to ask for help.

One teacher at one primary school threw her body over four of her students as the ceiling began to collapse.

These are powerful. They’re emotional. They display bravery and humanity at its finest.

But they shouldn’t have to be either. Survival shouldn’t be a matter of luck, or sacrifice. It should be about systems that work.

What Asia Can — and Should — Learn

Other countries have experienced this.

Schoolchildren in Japan learn what to do at the first signs of tremors in the floor. There’s a system. There’s order. There are alerts that flash on phones before the earthquake even strikes.

City councils in New Zealand run annual earthquake drills open to the public. People prepare go-bags. They are familiar with their local shelters. It’s not panic—it’s protocol.

Can we prepare?’ The question for much of Asia is not. It’s "Will we bother?"

And make no mistake: the technology is right here. The expertise exists. The public will is there, even — people want to feel safe.

What’s lacking is government urgency and enforcement.

Nature Isn’t the Enemy

Here’s the thing: we can’t prevent earthquakes. They have existed longer than we have. The tectonic plates under our feet are always moving, and they always will.

But just because we can’t prevent the earth from shaking doesn’t mean that we must be fractured.”

Indeed, many ancient Asian cultures honored the land. Some temples in Japan were constructed on wooden foundations built to sway rather than break. The mountain villages of Nepal had used flexible materials that would absorb shock.

We were told we would be safer with modernization. Stronger. But in the pursuit of profits and concrete jungles, we’ve forfeited the wisdom of resilience.

So What Now?

The choice is ours.

We can continue to respond — sending aid after the fact, conducting memorials, pledging change.

Or we can begin to prepare ourselves — investing in early warning systems, building to real building standards and teaching our kids how to protect themselves when the shaking starts.

Asia has not shied away from adversity. But it’s no stranger to innovation, collaboration and grit either.

The next quake may arrive tomorrow. Or a year from now. Or ten.

But if we wait to care until it arrives, it’ll be too late — again.

The Cost of Forgetting

With each big disaster comes a surge of attention — news coverage, donations, emergency meetings. And then?

We forget.

Until the next one hits.

This cycle — disaster, reaction, silence — has characterized the region’s relationship with earthquakes for too long. Knowledge of seismic events has been steeped in the past: the as-yet-unfeared fault line, the just-exploded fault line, such as the Nepal quake of 2015, the Indonesia quake of 2018 or the deadly Sichuan quake of 2008. In each instance, there were guarantees of improved planning, more resilient infrastructure and faster response systems.

But in much of the country, those promises evaporated more quickly than the aftershocks.

Systemic Flaws Invisible To The Naked Eye

One of the largest fissures is urban-rural preparedness. Cities almost always have at least some earthquake infrastructure — hospitals with safety zones, public awareness campaigns, emergency sirens.

But step beyond about a few hours outside of the city center, and it’s another world. Most rural towns and villages have no access to even the most rudimentary tools for preparedness.

In much of Asia, villagers depend on radio broadcasts and word-of-mouth warnings. Emergency drills? Non-existent. Evacuation plans? Not shared. The difference between who lives and who dies often comes down to geography and privilege, not just seismology.

What Actual Preparedness Might Look Like

Imagine if that changed.

Imagine if a quake alert appeared on your phone, providing you with 30 seconds to grab your child, move to a place of safety or pull the emergency brake on a train.

What if schools did monthly drills teaching kids to act, not freeze, when they see danger?

Imagine if the construction companies had no option but to not cut corners, under penalty with real consequences if they did.

What if there were designated safe zones around neighborhoods, outfitted with supplies, maps and even communication systems?

None of that is fantasy. All of it is possible. But this will not happen without public pressure, political will and investment in prevention, not just recovery.

A Shared Responsibility

We tend to talk about disaster response like it’s the purview of someone else. The government’s. The NGOs’. The rescue teams’.

But preparedness is a shared responsibility. It starts with:

• Community leaders conducting workshops and organizing drills.
• Parents communicating with their children about what to do when the shaking begins.
• Local press disinfecting things not based on disaster headlines
• Earthquake education as part of the curriculum.

Yes, that means governments need to step up — but so do all of us.

When the Earth Shakes Again

The truth? This will not be the last time Asia endures an earthquake.

Somewhere, below our feet, the plates are already moving. The pressure is building. The clock is ticking.

And it will happen again — in Tokyo or Kathmandu, Jakarta or Tehran — there will be two narratives, those who were ready and those who were not.

Let’s ensure that, next time, we’re in the first group.

One Last Thought

There’s a quote that I heard once from a survivor of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. She said:

“The dirt took everything I owned. But it didn’t break my will to survive. That came before. That’s what saved me."

Preparedness isn't fear-based. It’s about control. It’s instead about refusing to feel helpless. It’s about making something positive out of tragedy.

Asia deserves that. Every one of us does.

Sources:

AP News — Earthquake in Myanmar, 2025

USGS – Earthquake Hazards

UNDRR – Asia-Pacific Disaster Risk Reduction

Wikipedia – 2025 မြန်မာဒေသအငဒံလှိုင်း

Red Cross -- Preparedness Tips