Earthquake-proof Table

Israeli industrial designers, Arthur Brutter and Ido Bruno, have designed the "Earthquake-Proof Table" was built with the table’s live-saving potential in mind. "Existing non-earthquake-designated classroom tables often turn into lethal traps for those taking refuge."

A common tip for surviving an earthquake, told to everyone from school kids in Los Angeles to salarymen in Tokyo, is simple: when you feel the ground shake, get under the nearest table or desk to protect your head from broken glass, flying debris, or falling ceiling fans. But the reality is, most tables aren’t that strong, and in developing countries where cheaply built schools are likely to crumble, getting under a table won’t do much anyway.

The designers believe the table could provide safety to the 300 million students worldwide living in countries prone to quakes. It’s light enough for students to move, but can withstand more than 2,000 pounds of impact.

While researching the design, the team interviewed school directors and emergency responders around the world, including personnel who participated in rescue efforts after recent mega-quakes in Turkey and Haiti. The goal was to figure out an affordable way to mass produce the table without sacrificing safety. Their research shows that furnishing a classroom with these tables would be 10 times cheaper than strengthening the walls and 500 times cheaper than rebuilding a class or school to earthquake safety standards. Ido and Brutter, who collaborated on the project at Jersualem's Academy of Arts and Design, are now in talks with various governments and UN agencies to figure out how to bring the new technology to the places that need it.

To sum up, furnishing classrooms with these tables in parts of the world which are at a high risk of earthquakes could prove 10 times cheaper than strengthening the walls and 500 times cheaper than rebuilding a class or school to earthquake safety standards. They are also affordable for the less developed high risk countries as they are cheap to produce.

To promote and encourage use of the tables in classrooms, the designers should persuasively pitch the benefits to various governments and UN agencies.

To stress the benefits they should show a demo of the model in a stimulated earthquake and stress how much money and potential lives could be saved, using direct comparisons to the current set up in classrooms.

Charities could also raise funds through sponsorships and campaigns online, actively on the streets and through advertising on television to fund manufacturing and provide the less developed countries with these for their schools.