underwatervrg:

For your information, our reply to public enquires about this misinformation usually includes the following points:

• ‘Drop, cover and hold’ is the official advice of the New Zealand Government developed collaboratively with expert agencies such as GNS Science, EQC and the Society of Earthquake Engineers
• Earthquakes don’t tend to kill people; people die from being struck by falling objects or catastrophic building failure
• New Zealand’s excellent building code means it is unlikely a building will suffer catastrophic failure
• Most people greatly underestimate the violent shaking of a strong earthquake and how much of a threat exists from unsecured objects being thrown around a room

Official MCDEM response to the triangle of life advice (PDF)
Academic analysis of the triangle of life advice (PDF) by Dr Marla Petal who has researched the 1999 Izmit, Turkey earthquake

Also being in the Emergency Management sector and being part of the response to the Canterbury Quakes the duck cover and hold saved lives in buildings that had partital collapses.

Earthquakes don’t tend to kill people; people die from being struck by falling objects or catastrophic building failure