What is the use of rescue equipment if the rescuers are dead?

A few days back there was an earthquake in Afghanistan. Although around 7.6 on the Richter scale this one was 200 km below the surface, so it did not do much damage, unlike the one in 2005 which, though of similar magnitude, was only 20 km below the surface and caused extensive damage. The reason for frequent earthquakes in this region is because there is a fault line in the earth's crust underneath the Himalayan range. This is where the Indian plate is subsiding underneath the Eurasian plate at the rate of 40 mm per year and since this will continue into the future we may expect earthquakes to occur regularly in this region. Apparently the quake was felt in Delhi, mostly in higher floors of buildings, though most people on the ground did not feel anything. Scared by the slight tremor residents are demanding equipment for rescue and training in disaster management. Why are people panicking? Because almost all the houses in Delhi are unsafe. Excuses are many. Some blame new buildings built on stilts, to accommodate car parking, some say that builders concentrate on aesthetics and not on safety others blame illegal construction by owners. The real reason is greed, fueled by the explosive rise in real estate prices, which means rental yields are the highest in the world. Almost every building has been modified by owners to increase space, without any regard for safety. It is a huge industry. Owners get increased rents, municipality fellows get huge bribes and large numbers of poorly trained artisans, who have migrated from villages, earn daily wages. If most of the buildings collapse, police, firemen, ambulance drivers and nurses will be particularly affected because they live in unauthorised buildings where rents are relatively affordable. What is the point in having rescue equipment if the people who will operate them are already dead? It is the old parable about catching a monkey by putting a nut in a bottle with a narrow neck and then anchoring the bottle to the ground. The monkey can take its hand out by releasing the nut but is too greedy to do so and is easily captured. The earthquake that hit Japan was 9 on the Richter scale but caused little damage, it was the tsunami that followed that killed over 5,000 people. A building with 10 floors was constructed in 45 days in Mumbai after obtaining permission for repairs. If the media had not reported the violation it would have been sold off as in the Campa Cola case where 35 illegal floors were built and sold off without anyone noticing. The residents have been thrown out but we have not heard of the builders or the municipal fellows being punished. Victims are punished in India while criminals are free to enjoy their spoils. If, God forbid, there is an earthquake in Delhi tens of millions will die. Pray that death is quick.