Earthquake Preparedness - Please Share What You Know

I know from reading posts by people who have lived through some pretty bad quakes that one can never REALLY be prepared, BUT, I thought it could be useful to share experiences, insights and ideas in case some items or plans of action may have been over looked by quake vulnerable ATSers. For example; I had no idea how important it is to have a special wrench/spanner to turn off your gas mains should the pipes burst! After destructive quakes, many casualties are reported due to fire from ignited gas leaks. Do you know where your gas main is? Is it somewhere in your apartment complex? Under the stairs in your house? In a cupboard? And of course having extra water is imperative should the water pipes burst too.
I grew up in Colorado and we always kept a snake bite kit in the back of our car, should the need arise, keeping it up to date as the years passed. Now I am no expert on earthquales by any means but since my sister moved to California a few years ago, and in light of recent seismic activity world wide, I urged her to be prudent and have emergency plans in place JUST IN CASE. She now has a box ready, with her Swiss army knofe, wind up radio etc, as well as stocking up on extra gallons of water, tinned goods and so forth. Best case scenario, she never has to use it and they party on fruit cocktail and baked beans! Worst case, she has stuff and is better prepared than not should the need arise.
Anyone got helpful tips to share - just in case?

While I am prepared for disaster, I have a lot of faith in the structural soundness of buildings here in California now days. I say sit back and enjoy the ride. Although an 8 pointer or higher might get a little crazy.

reply to post by 5senses


Drop to the floor and hold on to a heavy object above you - for example, table legs if the table is wooden.

Stand in a doorway and hold on.

Cling to a wall by any means possible.

Keep well away from windows and things that could fall.

Do not necessarily run outside, even though that is most people's first instinct.

My recent experience with the Canterbury Earthquake is that for the most Caravans stand up to a 7.1 quake pretty well because they sway unlike houses . The strict building codes in New Zealand proved there worth just look what happened in Haiti as an extreme example of a lack of such regulations . Don't panic , make sure you and your loved ones are OK and then work out what your going to do next . If your anything like myself you will get an adrenalin rush that lasts two - three days . After that everything hits you like a ton of bricks , extreme stress levels make basic decision making or thought process equally as difficult. Before hand I stored water in used plastic bottles in a rubbish bag under my caravan . Now I know that isn't the best method of storing water but it meant that at least I wasn't in danger of dying of thirst .

People true colours shine thou you may find that people that wouldn't usually speak to you will be kind towards you and that those who are barley competent in "normal" times will falter badly ,

Cheers xpert11.

Here's one thing everyone should know:

Do NOT get under tables or other objects. Lay down next to objects that are heavy and have a low center of balance. This way if anything big falls it wont crush you, it will likely be supported by the object you're next to, allowing you more room to maneuver should you become trapped in a building. Getting under things that cant support the weight of falling heavy objects will get you crushed.

What I know is you wait for the shaking to stop check the USGS website for the 'oh wow' factor and continue with your day. Maybe I am blase but earthquakes are not a huge deal and traffic has more of an im[pact on my life.

Gas lines in a earthquake. I have a automatic seismic shut off valve it will turn off the gas even if i am not home.
It also turns of the gas in a Excess Flow condition if a line get broken from another cause like a car hitting the house or other breaks in the line in the house.
www.omegaflex.com...
Very good retrofit even if you do not live in a earthquake area.

And your fire department will like it as if you have a house fire the line will shut down when your house burns down.
and they will not have a gas fire still going in the pile of debris. or even worse have non burning gas leaking from a burned down house

For water i have two 45 gal plastic drums of water in the garage for washing and to flush the toilet and five flats of cheap bottled water for drinking and cooking.

I also have 8 foot 4x4s 2x4s and other wood to shore up the house after a earthquake to allow me to live in part of it till repairs are made. I do not care if they red tag it as i am prepared to make part if it livable within hours.
I am a ex firefighter so i will over rule them.

I started this thread a while back as you can see but after reading some other posts lately, specifically other ATSers concerned comments about what to if an earthquake happens in areas not typically known as vulnerable, I felt this thread should be resurrected to help them.

Thanks in advance and feel free to include ANY safety tips that could help in the face of a natural disaster. Well, the best we can do, at any rate, given that we have no real control where Mother Nature is concerned!

reply to post by 5senses


Hope you have more than 1 prepare pack. What if the earthquake happens at your work but your prepare pack is at home. What if your drving with no prepare pack. Seriously, just live for the now and don't going worring about somethjing that may not happen.

reply to post by the2people


Being prepared has nothing to do with not being in the moment. See my sig. This thread is simply a heads up for those who don't know. People are asking...
Good advice to have an extra pack in your car.

reply to post by 5senses


Happy to help!

in the event of a major earthquake you need a blimp. the farther you get away from the ground the safer you are

reply to post by 5senses


Thoughts and prayers going out to NZ... Many believed that the buildings were built to withstand a quake of this magnitude but, sadly, the destruction tells a different story. You hear the news readers saying that so-and-so building was built with quakes in mind - a bemused voice wondering what the hell's happened...
Was it that it was a shallow quake and that if it had been deeper the buildings would have been ok as in the higher mag quake in Sept 2010? Could anyone have been better prepared?
Just awful news.

Be interesting to find out if there were any potential signs before hand; i.e. animals behaving strangely...?

5

reply to post by 5senses


I realise that I'm just writing to myself these days but, hey, makes me feel better.
They appear to have called off searching of the CTV building in Christ Church believing that no one could withstand that collapse. But haven't people been pulled out of equally bad collapses. sometimes after a week? I'm worried they're calling it off too soon - but rescuers can't seem to hear anything...
That got me thinking -
If the people in earthquake prone regions alwys wore a whistle around their necks might that not up the odds of finding survivors? Implement it now and would be 'the norm' in no time.

hey im sixteen and live rite between two of the biggest faults in cali, and i gotta say, i love earthquakes, they arent as dangerous as you think, even if a 9.9 hit you cood still run out side. about half the time they are threes or fours and you can just chill by the door frame and enjoy the shakeyness.lol. if i were you i woodent worry about your sister... life doesnt screach to a halt after these things, aslong as she has water car keys and a fiew bucks she will survive.

build your house out of foam rubber away from trees and falling rocks.

use strong magnets to hold everything down

In light of the recent NZ and Japan quakes, if you can think of anything that could possibly help someone who lives in an earthquake prone area PLEASE share it. For example. I had no idea how important it is to know where your gas mains are - that kind of thing. We never know what little piece of info could potentially save someone's life...

Thanks for the thread. I'm in California and am currently putting together supplies

reply to post by projectvxn


Wow is this true?

In addition to my main supplies, I like to keep a small amount of food and water in every room in my home. That way, should I become trapped due to debris or structural problems, I won't starve or die of thirst. I also keep a flashlight in each room as well.

reply to post by 5senses


Sometimes when I travel I take my piezoseismic system with me, or part of it, in order to see if there is any danger of a large earthquake getting ready to strike somewhere within the region that I've traveled to. If there is, then I'm wary of it; if not, business as usual. I do get a kick out of looking at looking deep into the ground with this system, I realize that others don't know how its done, but I've put quite a few videos on YouTube about it, and I'll put more videos on YouTube about it soon.

I also like looking at the faults how they run across the country side. There is something special about seeing a fault running across the country side; when you are inside of a building and there are no windows to look out, or there is a hill or building between you and what you are seeing tens or hundreds of miles away. These faults under abnormal pressure can be viewed by the vast amounts of radiation given off which flies in all directions and passes through everything; houses, buildings of all types, hills mountains and oceans. These faults can only be seen when they are giving off this radiation, and they may exist tens of miles deep within the earth; while nothing can be seen of a fault existing at the surface.

I'll put some more videos on YouTube soon, and I'll shock the world with what I'll state in those videos. The governments won't be ready for what I'll state in those videos, and they won't be taking those videos lightly; that is for sure.

There are 22 videos on my YouTube Channel, you'll have to go to the right side of the page to (uploads) 22 and then go through them in sequence 1 through 22 in order to understand most of what I state. If you always thought that earthquakes can't be detected or forecast accurately, then you are misinformed.

www.youtube.com...