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An earthquake is the sudden, rapid shaking of the earth, caused
by the breaking and shifting of subterranean rock. While earthquakes
are sometimes believed to be a West Coast phenomenon, there are
actually 45 states and territories throughout the United States
that are at moderate to high risk for earthquakes including the
New Madrid fault line in Central U.S. Since it is impossible to
predict when an earthquake will occur, it is important that you
and your family are prepared ahead of time.
Step 1: Get a Kit
Get an Emergency Supply Kit, which
includes items like non-perishable food, water, a battery-powered
or hand-crank radio, extra flashlights and batteries. You may want
to prepare a portable kit and keep it in your car. This kit should
include:
- Copies of prescription medications and medical supplies;
- Bedding and clothing, including sleeping bags and pillows;
- Bottled water, a battery-operated radio and extra batteries,
a first aid kit, a flashlight;
- Copies of important documents: driver’s license, Social Security
card, proof of residence, insurance policies, wills, deeds, birth
and marriage certificates, tax records, etc.
Step 2: Make a Plan
Prepare Your Family
- Make a Family Emergency Plan.
Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is
important to know how you will contact one another, how you will
get back together and what you will do in case of an emergency.
- Plan places where your family will meet, both within and outside
of your immediate neighborhood.
- It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to
call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better
position to communicate among separated family members.
- You may also want to inquire about emergency plans at places
where your family spends time: work, daycare and school. If no
plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one.
- Be sure to consider the specific needs of your family members
- Notify caregivers and babysitters about your plan.
- Make plans for your pets
- Take a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class from your
local Citizen
Corps chapter. Keep your training current.
Step 3: Be Informed
Prepare Your Home
- Fasten shelves securely to walls.
- Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves.
- Store breakable items such as bottled foods, glass, and china
in low, closed cabinets with latches.
- Hang heavy items such as pictures and mirrors away from beds,
couches, and anywhere people sit.
- Brace overhead light fixtures.
- Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections.
These are potential fire risks.
- Secure a water heater by strapping it to the wall studs and
bolting it to the floor.
- Repair any deep cracks in ceilings or foundations. Get expert
advice if there are signs of structural defects.
- Store weed killers, pesticides, and flammable products securely
in closed cabinets with latches and on bottom shelves.
- Identify Safe Places indoors and outdoors like under sturdy
furniture or against an inside wall away from where glass could
shatter around windows, mirrors, pictures or where heavy bookcases
or other heavy furniture could fall over.
- Find out how to keep food safe during and after and emergency
by visiting: http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/emergency/index.html
Prepare Your Business
QuakeSmart.org will show
you how Mitigation
can work for you and how to reduce your risks in three steps: Understanding
What’s
the Risk, Making
a Plan and Getting
the Work Done. Each step even has a checklist to guide you.
Listen to Local Officials
Learn about the emergency plans that have been established in your
area by your state
and local government. In any emergency, always listen to the
instructions given by local emergency management officials.
For further information on how to plan and prepare for earthquakes
as well as what to do during and after an earthquake, visit: Federal
Emergency Management Agency, NOAA
Watch or American Red Cross.
Learn about The Great California ShakeOut.
Visit http://www.shakeout.org/
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