Preparing For An Earthquake
What are the key considerations when preparing for an earthquake?
When you think about preparing for an earthquake you have to realize that it is something that can happen at any time so you need to be ready for it at anytime. You don't have the advance notice that you have with a hurricane or other natural disaster that is about to happen. There are actions you can take before the earthquake to be able to deal with it, when the earthquake happens, during the earthquake and afterwards.
How can I secure my home for an earthquake?
To secure your home or apartment for an earthquake you want to be thinking about what's going to fall on you in an earthquake. You want to be securing those items before the earthquake happens. That includes strapping top heavy furniture to the walls, strapping your bookcases to the walls, and strapping water heaters to the walls. Also, if there are heavy items that are high up on the shelf, move those to a lower location. Anything that's going to fall and cause injury or damage, you can take care of in advance of the earthquake by securing your space.
What is earthquake "retrofitting"?
Earthquake retrofitting is what you do to your house or any building in advance of an earthquake. If it's an older building, retrofitting will mean it will do better in an earthquake when it happens. Newer buildings are built to certain codes, older buildings were built at a time when those codes didn't exist. Retrofitting is bringing them up to a higher level of standards so that they won't fall or won't have a lot of damage during the earthquake.
How do I make my home's foundation more earthquake safe?
The foundation of your home is very important in terms of how earthquake safe your house is, and especially whether your house is actually bolted into the foundation or not. If it's not, the house can slide during the earthquake and will cause a lot of damage. Newer homes have bolts every six feet or so along the floor of the house bolting into the foundation. Older homes, most likely, do not have those same bolts into the foundation, and retrofitting to add those bolts is very important. There's a lot of information available about how to do that. It's best to work with a license contractor on your foundations.
How do I make my refrigerator more earthquake safe?
During an earthquake it's very important that your refrigerator doesn't fall over and spill it's contents in your kitchen, both because of the mess there will be and because you need those contents for eating and drinking after the earthquake. What you want to do is strap the refrigerator to the wall behind it, both at the top and the bottom, so that it won't move. You also want to strap the doors of the refrigerator so that the contents don't spill out. There are special types of latches for refrigerator doors that are very easy to open, but not during an earthquake.
How do I make my water heater more earthquake safe?
Securing your water heater to a wall is very important when preparing for an earthquake. There are water and gas lines going into that water heater that, if the water heater were to fall over, would be broken. It's a potential fire hazard. You're also losing the water that's within the water heater that you can use to drink after the earthquake. If your water heater does not have two straps all the way around the heater, at the top and near the bottom, then it's not properly braced. There are kits that you can buy at any home improvement store to do that work yourself, or you can hire a plumber or other contractor to secure your water heater to the wall.
How do I make my cabinets more earthquake safe?
During an earthquake, what often happens is that people will go into their kitchen and everything in their kitchen cabinets will have spilled onto the floor. Not only your glasses and your plates, but food and things that are in jars may have broken and spilled all over your kitchen floor. You need those items, especially the food, to survive after an earthquake when you may be on your own. It's very important to do what you can to make sure that that stuff doesn't fall during an earthquake, and the easiest thing to do is you install special type of latches. Childproof latches are perfect for this. There are other types of latches also that will keep the cabinet doors closed and, therefore, keep your contents inside.
How do I make my television more earthquake safe?
As our TVs get larger and larger, it becomes very important to make sure that they don't fall over during an earthquake, or even at other times. One of the biggest hazards right now in our homes are these very heavy TVs; when children climb up on them, perhaps to turn the channel or something, they're falling over. The same thing that you do to prepare that TV, to secure that TV for an earthquake, will also improve the safety year-round. There are special straps that you can buy at any home improvement store that use Velcro and other latches to secure your TV or other electronic items to the table that they're sitting on, or even into the wall, especially for our large-screen TVs. Make sure that you strap them into the studs in the wall so that they don't fall over during an earthquake.
Where are my home's utilities?
It's important to know how to turn off your utilities if you need to after an earthquake. You want to know where to turn off your electricity, your gas and your water in the event of an earthquake. The circuit breaker for electricity is usually at the side of your house, along with your gas valve. Turning off the water is usually done by a valve that's closer to the street.
