You're over egging it a little - if they didn't even have building materials to try and eat ( <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagy" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagy</a> ) then they wouldn't have buildings that could fall on them.<p>A mud hut may fall down in an earthquake or blow away in a hurricane but is less likely to kill you when it falls over then a brick or concrete building.<p>Isn't this more about living within the societal means than simply about poverty: If where I live all cars crash or blow up because we lack resources to produce quality cars then one must accept a bicycle or horse and cart for family transport or suffer the consequences, no?