Last updated on November 19th, 2017
Having lived and worked in the Bay Area of California for nearly 15 years (not there anymore…), I experienced quite a number of earthquakes and learned to live with the threat of earthquakes 24/7.
I will never forget ‘the first time’… It wasn’t long after we moved there. It was 4AM and jolted awake as the bed was shaking back and forth while strange noises were coming from various parts of the house during those seconds. It’s quite a feeling of helplessness knowing that there’s nothing you can really do at that point but to let it pass.
The secret to earthquake preparedness is doing things ahead of time so that you will be safer DURING the earthquake and AFTERWARDS.
During the time span when we lived in California, it seemed that most (not all) earthquakes that we felt occurred during the night. So we were at home when many of the earthquakes shook the place. It didn’t take much convincing to get our house in order!
Things that can fall on you during an earthquake
The #1 immediate risk/threat during an earthquake is ‘stuff’ falling on you. Whatever is hung on the walls, sitting on shelves, dressers, tables, etc., have the potential of becoming flying objects that could hit you.
The #1 immediate thing that you can do for earthquake preparedness at home is to take note of where you sleep and where you may often sit, and then secure or move any potentially dangerous objects that may become ‘missiles’.
If you happen to be close to the earthquake epicenter, the initial ‘jolt’ (P-Wave) can be pretty ‘immediate’. Rather than just a rolling motion the earthquake’s initial onset is more like a ‘snap’ (this is what especially sends things flying). The further away you are, the more rolling you’ll get (vs. a more violent shaking).
So, especially near your bed, DO NOT have a mirror nearby. Anything that may be on a dresser top or night stand may hurt you. Furniture (anything) may topple over if it’s not secured well to the wall studs.
Take special caution regarding anything that’s glass. While another object may hurt you, shards of glass could badly cut and even kill you.
Which brings up another important thing… Keep hard sole shoes next to your bed at night! Walking on debris and glass after an earthquake is not good for your feet!
In summary, go through your house and note the furniture and objects which might topple over or fall down, and then make judgements as to whether you need to secure or move any of these things relative to where you may be sitting, sleeping, etc..
Gas Lines and Water Lines during an earthquake
Since an earthquake literally moves the earth, an earthquake has the potential of rupturing gas and water lines if it’s bad enough.
Not only is there a risk of gas / water line rupture (in or out of your house), there is also a risk that your hot water heater (if gas) may topple over (although it should be secured via ‘code’).
One of the first things that I did after having experienced my first earthquake is to get a special shut-off tool / wrench that would enable me to quickly and easily shut off the gas and water coming into the house. If you don’t have a similar tool, it will be a good bit difficult to shut off the gas or the water main (at the meter).
Emergency Gas and Water Shutoff 4-in-1 Tool
Surviving At Home After The Earthquake
The earthquake and the damage that it causes will occur in just a matter of seconds. The aftermath and cleanup could last quite a long time – depending…
In certain parts of the country there are particular regions which carry a particularly high risk of ‘The Big One’ occurring such as the San Andreas fault and the Hayward fault (California), the Cascadia subduction zone (Pacific northwest), and the New Madrid Seismic Zone (southern and midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri).
Most earthquakes that occur each day are small and cannot be felt. However once you get up into the Richter scale of 4 and above, you will certainly feel it as well as having the potential for damage the higher you go…
Should ‘The Big One’ happen, there will be terrible tragedy. Depending on where you live, your home might be damaged to the extent of being inhabitable. Help will be slow to arrive and you will likely be on your own for quite awhile. If it’s that bad, you might consider being prepared to ‘walk out’ of the region. Roads will likely be impassible. Fortunately, earthquakes are indeed regional, so it is possible to walk far enough away to get out of the region, provided that you’re healthy enough to do it.
Other than the big earthquake hitting, a moderate earthquake may damage and/or mess up your home (as well as some infrastructure), however simply having enough food and water to survive for awhile should be ‘enough’ to keep you going until the situation can be cleaned up. Additionally, the power might be out for a time. A generator may come in handy. Plan to eat and cook and survive without electricity for awhile.
Related: Smartphone Communications During A Power Outage
If you have to walk out of an earthquake zone…
…you better have prepared ahead of time by having a bug-out-bag (backpack) ready to go. You will need to have a planned route and destination ahead of time, well thought out. The further out you get, the more likely you will be picked up and helped to your destination. Maybe it’s a friend or family home outside the region. Maybe simply a hotel for awhile…
A few ideas what to have in your backpack:
-Bottled water
-A water filter!
–A Sawyer Mini water filter will attach to the threads of a standard disposable water bottle.
-Light-weight but calorie-dense foods
-Peanut Butter
-Food Bars (Datrex Food Bars)
-LED flashlight and/or headlamp
-Knife
-Local/Regional Map & Compass (Good Compass For Map Reading And Navigation)
-GPS (A Handheld GPS Receiver)
-Your cell phone
-Battery Reserve for cell phone (Anker High-Capacity 16750mAh Portable Battery Charger)
-First Aid Kit (Ziploc First Aid Kit)
-Small Pocket Radio (Best little AM/FM pocket radio)
-Toilet Paper!
-Fire starter kit (BIC lighter, matches, FireSteel, magnesium firestarter, etc..)
-Emergency Blanket (TITAN Mylar Survival Blanket)
-Appropriate walking shoes/boots
-Appropriate outwear, including rain gear or poncho
-There’s more that you might choose to add to your bag, but the list above is a start…
CONCLUSION
Hopefully this has provided you with some thought and ideas regarding earthquake preparedness at home. It’s a survivable thing (although ‘the big one’ may be different), and a little preparation may go a long way.
Any further thoughts, ideas, or earthquake-related experiences?
I can’t add to your list of earthquake items, I don’t live in an area prone or at risk for quakes. I have experienced earthquakes, the two I experienced in Japan did age me a bit.
On business, my hotel room was on the 21st floor in downtown Tokyo, a short walk to the underground train station, (Shinjuku Station, less than a year removed from the sarin gas attack which tends to wire one up a bit). A nine day trip, about 2 days in, middle of the night I woke up as the bed went one way and I rolled to the other side as it came back. This went on for about 30 seconds or so, water sloshing out of the toilet, I really believed I was going to die when the building tipped over. The building was newer and built to sway, which I found out the next day. I did not sleep from about 1:30 a.m. to morning. In the morning I was people with arm slings, head bandages going about normal business.
Two nights later, same 21st floor hotel room, again middle of the night, another 5.8 quake, same building swaying and me rolling back and forth in bed. I was so exhausted on this trip, that during this second quake I just thought, go ahead, if I go, then so be it. After it subsided I went back to sleep. I can still vividly remember and occasionally dream about this.
To cap off this trip adventure, I then flew to Hong Kong, high speed catamaran across the South China Sea, into mainland China and back to Tokyo. We flew out of Narita airport in Tokyo about 3 hours before a typhoon was to hit, kissed the ground when I got home.
I have experience shakes and rumbles in the Northeast, but nothing like Tokyo.
I saw people with bandages and arm slings, not I was…
Also, both quakes were 5.8 two days apart. Folks in Tokyo talked about waiting for the big one to hit.
Japan and Chile have some of the highest earthquake building standards in the world. I still wouldn’t want to be in a high rise there!
At one of our houses, we had a “check valve” inline with the gas line before the meter. It would actually close due to shaking of the Earth. A jolt would cut off the gas. I lived in Ca during many earthquakes, including the famous world series quake in 1989, when one deck of the Bay Bridge collapsed. Scary stuff. I’m in WA now, although not on the coast but inland 300 miles.
Best holiday wishes to all.
Doc
Doc, can’t imagine. I was watching the series when everyone just stopped the game! Just one of those times you remember in life.
I was several hours away and felt the jolt at the same time I saw it on TV.
One of the reasons I left California to the Four Corners….
Within the first ten years in CA it was a weekly thing to rock-n-roll. Will never forget the number of water heaters that I helped repair from falling over during a rather nasty quake….. Now days they “strap” them to the wall, is good till the wall falls over.
Stay vigilant my friends. Got that bad feeling again
NRP
Was in the Loma Prieta quake of 1989. Just one more reason to extricate my family from CA which I did in 1990! Have small quakes here in So CO, but really pretty steady as a rule. Good article Ken. Merry Christmas all if I don’t get back to the site before.
As I have mentioned before when the topic touched on earthquakes, I have been in numerous small and 2 very big earthquakes here in CA: the Sylmar quake in 1971 and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Both quakes hit in the early morning hours (still dark outside). The Sylmar quake had a rolling motion to it. The Northridge quake was on a thrust fault and had a very hard, slamming up and down motion to it. While the rolling is scary in and of itself, the thrusting motion is terrifying; you feel like the roof over your head is going to fall down on you. Sadly for a number of people, that exact thing happened and lives were lost. The Northridge earthquake was felt for more than 200 miles and I believe it was a record-setter for severity of motion for an earthquake in North America.
Although many areas do not usually have earthquakes it seems like we have earthquakes in places they’ve not been felt before, so I’m not sure who is immune and who is not at this point… better to be prepared for it just in case.
-Water heaters should be strapped down.
-Anything overhead (lighting, ceiling fans, etc…) should be secured to withstand even heavy shaking without coming loose.
-A heavy/very sturdy desk or table can make a good shelter
-If outdoors, stay clear of overhead power lines and plate glass windows
-If driving, get clear of overpasses if possible – overpasses and bridges have come down in bigger quakes
People have been known to panic and run in a quake. Unless you are in imminent danger of something coming down on you, running may only make it worse. Especially if you run outside where trees, power lines, building signs and exterior trim, etc… can crush or electrocute you. The best advice I can give you is to try not to panic, and to remember to protect your head and face from flying debris and falling objects.
Underpasses and airplanes–two things that should never be built by the lowest bidder!
I, too was in the 1971 quake, Feb. 9th. In August of 1971 I moved entire family to Boulder, CO, never to return.
@ Linda S
And I’m betting (Like Myself) you feel it’s the best move ya ever did and never looked back???
NRP
I say the same thing. The rolling quakes are not so bad because you get a little warning before it gets going, but the up and down ones, oh my gosh. The last one we had created a big boom like something had hit the house, then the ground went up and dropped down. I think my chair left the ground. I’m not getting any younger. Those kinds of shocks are not pleasant.
I knew a guy who was in SF for Loma Prieta in 89. He told me it was bad enough that he moved out of the area.
On the subject of preparedness I recently realized I was not where I needed to be. There was a power failure and like most we have had I knew it would not last very long. When I went to get the prep items for the temporary inconvenience they were not immediately available. I was “ready” with my preps but not “set” to “go”. My priority now is to be “set”. As you wrote in this article on earthquake preparedness and preparedness in general we all need to be “set” .
Guilty, Yerronner, and thanks for the nudge. Your point is very well made. It’s all about “time”, isn’t it…better to invest the time now than to regret not having the time later.
So acting on your hint just now and doing a “set assessment”, I was confronted with the fact that I need to reorganize. I was (past tense) organized, but over the summer I moved some stuff around on the shelves where my gear is stored, took some of my gear with me to go camping but didn’t return it to exactly the right spots, moved things in front of other things to access yet other things, etc. I can see I was pretty casual about putting stuff away where it belongs. And at this moment, although my gear is “ready” and all there, it’s scattered. I need to take the time now to reorganize and have the gear I want to take and/ or throw in the vehicle properly staged and readily accessible, so I won’t have to think about moving anything out of the way to get to it all…then I’ll feel like I’m “set”, or at least more “set” than I am right now.
Being ready when needed is the full state of preparedness. But that is easy to say.
I am human (sorry) learning and implementing those lessons learned will take you to a full state of readiness. The problem is learning the lessons before we need them. Use everyone’s experience here and everywhere to enhance your experience and capabilities. You don’t need to have the experience of jumping out of an airplane to know it could save your life. Just listen to the people that have done it, grab a parachute if the time comes, jump and remember to pull the cord.
Was reported mt st Helens had 280+ small quakes in Nov ,,,glad for small ones ,,,
In the 80’s I was working for an airline and was sent to L.A. for training. I was in an upper floor of a hotel close to L.A. Airport. I was woken by bells ringing and the sound of people running down the steps close to my room. Living in Anchorage, Alaska I rolled over and went back to sleep. This was the Northridge Earthquake. Having moved to Anchorage in 1974 I have been through many quakes. Spring forward to January 1916 at 1:30ish AM We got hit with a 7.1. The shaking woke me up and all I could think of is the 4-gun rack and our wedding picture above my head. I pulled the pillow over my head and when the shaking stopped. One of the fluorescent lights in the kitchen fell out of the ceiling and my earthquake monitor crack in one of my walls increased by 1/2 inch so I knew it was a good one. After checking the gas and water heater and calming the wife I went back to bed. In the morning, I went to the closest Fred Meyers grocery store and the odor of Lysol and pickle juice was very prominent. One local hardware store had all of their small hardware (nuts, bolts, screws) fall on the floor.
We are due for another ’64 type quake here and We have preps at several different locations and 2 self-contained stocked motor homes. We have 5-10×20 car port tents with walls and 10×10 “pop-up tents with walls, generators, hydraulic bottle jacks and hi-lift jacks, chains, come-a-longs, steel long pry bars, chain saws, sledge hammers, several kinds of 2-way radios CB’s Base, mobile in vehicles and hand held, a fire hydrant adapter, hose to reach my house and wrench, a fire service fire pump and hose for it, items to control looters and many other preps. The wife & I were on a Red Cross DAT team for several years and she has training as a CNA and I have in depth training in first aid. Our big furniture (china hutch) is mounted to the wall as is my shelves of home canned veggies from my gardens. Are you seeing a pattern with plurals? We also have a complete Yukon Stove, 40 – 20-pound propane tanks 2 propane cook stoves with a splitter hose, an adapter to fill 1 lb. bottles, water filters and a bunch more stuff. I’m still adding, this past summer I built a 16 X 18 Gambrel roof shed and it is almost full with garden tools, generators, roto-tiller, air compressors. This summer I will add a 4-bay rabbit hutch/chicken coop/greenhouse along one wall and will build an 18X20 at another property.
I have identified 3 or more preppers in my immediate neighborhood so in an emergency we should be ok.
I forgot to add that having been here for the Mt. Spur volcano eruption I have many preps needed for one of these.
In the mid 1980’s, my husband and I decided we wanted to move out west. We were on an interview trip in Salt Lake City. In the middle of the night, before our interviews, we were bounced out of the bed by an earthquake. I thought he had pushed me out of the bed (not funny!). He knew it was an earthquake and yelled at me to get out of the motel.
By the time we got to the door of our motel room the shaking had stopped. The parking lot was full of people dazed and scared.
So we went to our interviews and during my conversation with the supervisor I said “Wow, that earthquake was scary!” She said, “Oh that, it happens all the time, and just so you know, the hospital is built on a fault…”
I did NOT accept a position.
I live in a hurricane zone. At least we know when they’re coming. luv ya’ll, Beach’n
I read what I thought was a great earthquake preparedness tip on Emergency Essential’s blog (my paraphrasing)~
If you wear a hearing aid you should Velcro your case for it to your bedside table. Their point was that hearing aids are so expensive that most people only own one.
Since reading that I have made myself put my glasses in a case in a secure location by the bedside every night. While I do have more than one pair of glasses I wouldn’t be able to find my second pair if I wasn’t wearing the first lol.
Good point on the hearing aid. I attended an emergency preparedness meeting where we were told to bungee cord our shoes to the bed as a major quake could send them flying & you’re really going to need them.
@Linda S, good point about adding the shoes. I’m hoping I’m just outside the New Madrid area but know I’d need them for other emergencies. Thanks.
kate114,
I do not live in an active earthquake area so I have skipped over this discussion until the part about the eyeglasses in secure locations. This applies to any emergency situation and I realized I do not have enough spares in various locations.
Besides securing them well to my bedside table, I will now get enough spares to put in the gun locations, BOB’s and each vehicle. I use the over the counter glasses for this.
Thanks.
@Bug out chicken, you’re welcome! I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this myself years ago as I am so very eyeglass dependent.
Ken
Thank you for the reminder. Normally I keep a old pillow case under the bed on each side. His contains items we could not easily replace, meds, glasses, same for my side.
This idea came from a poster who keeps her shoes inside the pillow case so that that her feet are protected from broken glass, plus any other essentials that she might require.
The last 2 quakes I remember going through and working were the San Simeon Quake off the coast of Central California and the Loma Prieta Quake in the San Francisco Bay Area. At least in California, the rebuild process began right away. Funds for rebuilds were obtained from Dept of Transportation. In both cases, I continued to go to work.
My wife and my dog were freaked out after the San Simeon quake. I quietly checked the house for damage, cleaned up any broken things or spills and walked the dog around our neighborhood. I tried to restore a sense of normalcy within my home before I went to work inside a large, secure facility. “You are in California dude! Earthquakes happen!”
I now live in the Pacific Northwest where the largest city is known as the city of bridges (Portland) In event of a large quake, I see that place as being cut off for quite a while. In my case, I still have to cross 2 bridges in order to get to and from work each day. Once you live through quakes and drive ambulance, you take note of such things. I still live on the Pacific Rim of Fire. Earthquakes will happen.
Let us not forget the other of the four seasons of California: Earthquakes, Floods, Wildfires and Riots.
I like idea about the pillow case under the bed. Good strong bed could be helpful also, If the ceiling comes down the bed might stop it from squashing you. My first action will be to get on the floor next to the bed.
for those of you living in areas where tsunamis could occur or if levees might fail (Thinking New Madrid scenario) get a boat. Don’t keep in in the garage and don’t keep it tied to the trailer. Point it in the direction you think the water might come from. Let it be able to float off. Some provisions on board would also be helpful. Second best would be an inflatable raft. More at risk for punctures but beats trying to swim. I keep an old zodiac inflated in the backyard. Life jackets could be helpful if only to help recover your body.
me
We had just moved into our new home here. One morning about 3am a loud boom along with rattle hit the house. Being sound a asleep I literally fell out of the bed onto the floor yelling at my husband that a semi truck had just hit the house, and to call the sheriffs office.
That would have been true it we were still living in a city like Phoenix AZ. Dh laughed & laughed, and said NO that was an EQ. We are located no where near a major road system, private road. Strange things can & do happen in the middle of the night.
Hi me.,
When we lived very close to the coast, we kept a small boat tied up to the back porch. No trailer, just on the ground. We had a cooler with change of clothes, flashlights, water, etc., that was tied down in the boat. Also, life jackets.
I never needed to use it, but learned to do this from the older neighbors. They had been there long enough to see the water come up a little too fast.
luv ya’ll, Beach’n
We are in the shake zone for New Madrid. Not the 1st zone but the 2nd. Gonna happen one day. Can you imagine the bridges crashing that cross the Mississippi! Would be a far trip north or south for goods transportation.
We might need to be considering getting things that we need , well to one side or the other of that river!. Part of ONE of the 3 faults runs down the river and is very deep… has been documented at one mile deep.
…if some sudden event dumped much water into the surrounding area, that river COULD go to many miles wide… and any bridging could take several years to replace, if ever.. Owning a Ferry-Boat could be a Boon! .So should you decide to…remain near the river and transverse it often, you might consider plans should you become “trapped” on either side by any sudden event..Be sure to consider elevation…
I too, am on the fringes of area that could be impacted, away from the river, but all the creeks that drain my area flow north and into the Mississippi… assuredly, if the Mississippi River is affected, we will be.. and it depends on what fault is affected and how great the effect.
An Earthquake that affects us would take out many bridges. Look at how many you cross between where you work and home… Just Sayin’ each person in this region needs to consider.
I was going to skip reading this as we just don’t worry about earthquakes that much in Texas (although the fracking is making it happen increasingly). Alas, I have too much fun reading everyone’s comments.
I shared this a while back, but I think it’s worth doing again for those of you in the earthquake zones.
Keep in mind the Triangle of Life. There’s a website about it (it’s kinda wonky, but the info is gold, just wade through it). This man who has done rescue work all his life has devoted his lift to spreading the word about the Triangle of Life.
Basically, it’s this:
When you are in any kind of “duck and cover” situation, DO NOT get under your desk or anything. Hunker down next to a large piece of furniture. If you have a desk, turn it on its side and get up against the tallest side of it. The gentleman says that if the roof collapses and you’re under a desk/bed/whatever, the legs will not be able to withstand the ceiling’s weight and will collapse on you. Therefore, the safest space is NEXT to a piece of furniture that will not topple over easily. When the roof collapses, it will land on the furniture first, and you will be sheltered safe in the “triangle”.
Interestingly, the fellow asserts that schools/businesses do not teach this because the insurance companies would rather have deaths rather than injuries to pay out on?? I have no idea about this. I just wish the Triangle of Life was taught in schools/businesses/wherever.
So, think about where your “triangles” are in each room throughout your house, and where you work.
Stay safe, everyone!
The further away you are from a common quake area the lower the earthquake building standards. We’ve seen this already in Tulsa and previous quakes in the greater New Madrid area. The brick homes will not survive severe shaking.
Keep sturdy shoes by the bedside. Also, a strong flashlight, noisemaker and a crowbar type instrument in case you are trapped and/or injured. The flashlight and noisemaker will help rescuers find you among rubble especially if you are injured and can’t yell or speak. A cell phone nearby works too.
Hving dealt with wildfires (brush fires fires in CA), tornadoes-including the big NASTY swarm in April of last year, while we were on a road trip, riots, and other cataclysmic natural disasters, I have long learned to make sure I am right with God(my choice), and be as prepared as we can be for the future, whatever that may bring.
Mountains are naturally created by earthquakes
Islands by volcanoes and sometimes cyclones(hurricanes when not in the Pacific)
Yes, the Mississippi River has changed it’s course, the New Madrid Earthquake in the early 1800’s did just that.
Hurricanes will continue to hit Florida, the Gulf Coast and the Carolinas,
Riots will continue to be fomented in large metropolitan areas populated almost exclusively by the majority of Democrat Party members
Wild/brush fires are almost always caused by arson and/or lightening strikes, one can be controlled the other, not so much.
Earthquakes, in particular ones that feel like a giant is shaking your home to bits, are from P-Waves, the rolling sensation are the S waves, both, will destroy your home quite easily if, the intensity is strong enough, the quake is long enough, or the level of the quake rupture is very close to the surface.
We cannot prevent every type of natural disaster, we can only TRY to mitigate the effects, after the fact.
Manmade disasters are an entirely different matter altogether, and to some extent, can indeed be controlled or mitigated by swift and merciless and overwhelming response to the mobocracy that creates it.