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10 Things You Must Do To Prepare For An Earthquake

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prepareforearthquake

1. Always have at least one week of your medications with you at all times. Most insurance companies allow you to refill your medications 7 days early. Always fill your medication during this period and you can build up a good supply of extra medications.

2. Don’t forget your pets when planning. Always have carriers and supplies for pets for at least a week. And make sure they are in an easy to get to. If you need to evacuate you will need to be able to safely transport your pets and take supplies like food, water, and litter with you.

3. Cash will be king if there is no electricity. Have at least $200 of cash on hand at all times. I’d say go even farther and have $200 cash for each person in your family.

4. Be prepared in both your car and at home. You can’t predict where you will be when an earthquake happens. Have supplies in both your home and car.

5. Keep quick “get away kits” in your bedroom. These kits should have clothes and walking shoes in them in case an earthquake happens in the middle of the night.

6. Prepare a communication plan. It is possible that during an earthquake you can be separated from your family, have a plan in place of who to call or where to meet to be reunited. 

7. Don’t forget your eyes. If you wear contacts or prescription glasses include an extra pair in your kit. Earthquakes can cause damage and glasses can easily be lost or broken and contacts cloudy. Have an extra pair. 

8. Be prepared with supplies for at least a week. Most experts advise at least having 72 hours of supplies, but I would have at least 1 week just to be safe. Here is a good site that talks about how to build a kit.

9. Talk to your family (especially your children) about what to expect during and after an earthquake. Earthquakes can be scary for everyone. Empower your little ones with the knowledge of what can happen and what they should do during and after an earthquake. 

10. Have earthquake drills. Practice going to safe places away from glass and staying calm.

What else should you do to prepare for an earthquake or natural disaster?

 

 

Heather Reese
the authorHeather Reese
Heather Delaney Reese is the storyteller and photographer behind the lifestyle and family travel blog, It's a Lovely Life®! For the past decade, she has vacationed over 150 days a year with her family. She is a vegan, and loves being by the water, spending time with her children, husband, 2 Shih Tzus and Cat.

38 Comments

  • We don’t get earthquakes here in Massachusetts, so this is great. I would have no clue what to do. I went to San Diego last year and it was my first time in CA and I was totally hoping for one, but it never happened. I will be there again in 2 weeks and I hope for a SMALL one this time.

  • Luckily we don’t get many earthquakes and not the big ones here in NC. However, we are traveling to California in about 9 days, so this will come in handy just in case! Thanks for writing this.

  • Thanks for the tips. It’s always helpful to have everything important in one safe place!

  • These are great tips and it’s so important to have a plan. We don’t get many earthquakes in NY but you never know what could happen.

  • I have thankfully never experienced an earthquake- hurricanes, tornado warnings/close by, and one tsunami warning (eek), but no earthquakes! These are great tips and I think being prepared with supplies and a quick getaway kit is great for any emergency.

  • I finally reupped our first aid kit, but we haven’t made a tornado kit yet!! The natural disasters Georgia sees are usually flood related.

  • oh the medication is a really good point. we have a 7 2 hour kit here (not in earthquake area, but just in case) and i take daily meds

  • What great emergency preparedness tips! I think it’s a great idea to have a good amount of cash on hand (in small bills).

  • This is the first time I have ever read an earthquake preparedness list! Im so glad you brought attention to the matter!

  • having large amounts of cash on hand is so hard. I think this is a very good list

  • This is so important to know! With all the earthquakes lately, we all must be prepared for the worst!

  • These tips are great for any natural disaster. Its wise to keep cash on hand in emergencies.

  • I think a “get a way” pack would be good for so many things. Fire, earthquake, middle of the night illness that leads to an ER trip. There are so many things that could happen so it’s always good to be prepared!

  • I’ve never been through an earthquake since I live in Texas. It’s always a good idea to be prepared for any kind of emergency.

  • this is the second post i’ve seen about earthquakes. do you guys know something i don’t know? scary thought!

  • Over here in Florida, we don’t have to worry too much about Earthquakes, but we do need to worry about hurricanes. A lot of these tips would work for that too.

  • Those are good tips. I never thought about planning for an earthquake and then I felt one in February in Georgia! Crazy!

  • Thank you for this! I am constantly worrying about what will happen if we have an earthquake here and keep telling myself to make a kit. Passing this on to my husband!

  • We don’t have earthquakes here in Jersey. I can’t even imagine how scary they must be.

  • We don’t have earthquakes in Florida. These are terrific tips though, great to keep in mind for people that travel too.

  • These are some great tips to prepare for an earthquake. I hope I’ll never need to use them here in Florida.

  • Gosh, I wear contacts and would have never thought about an extra pair! Thank you

  • I never thought about having cash! Of course! If the electricity is out! Great tip!

  • Good point to make sure you have supplies ready in the home AND the car. I don’t live in an earthquake zone, but I think this applies for any natural disaster.

  • All this earthquake talk is making me nervous. These are some really great ideas.

  • I’ve always wanted to visit California (and I will someday, I hope!). I think living there would scare me though, because of the earthquakes.

  • These are some great tips, for any kind of disaster really! I live in Ohio, so the most we get is a small tremor. I can’t imagine living out in Cali though, I’d be scared!

  • I’ve never been in an Earthquake. We have tornadoes here all the time though. Your tips could apply to most disasters.

  • This is so important. A lot of earthquakes have been happening lately. It’s a good idea to know what to do and to be prepared.

  • We don’t get earthquakes so is have no clue what to do! I’ll keep these tips in mind when I travel though! The thought of earthquakes is so scary.

  • These are great tips. There have been so many earthquakes lately, being prepared is key

  • Luckily we don’t get any earthquakes here in Minnesota, but I will keep some of these tips in mind for when I’m visiting places that do!

  • YIKES I hate earthquakes and I need to get prepared. So easy to get distracted.

  • Cash and medication are two super important things that you may not think about when creating emergency kits, so thanks for pointing those out!

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