Earthquake Preparedness Guide

Before an Earthquake: Secure Your Home

Home securing reduces property damage and prevents the most common interior earthquake injuries — being struck by falling objects.

High-priority securing tasks

• Water heater: Strap it to wall studs with a water heater strap kit ($15–$25). A tipped water heater can rupture gas lines and cause fire. This is the single most important thing to do in earthquake country.
• Tall furniture: Anchor bookcases, dressers, filing cabinets, and refrigerators to wall studs with furniture straps. Overhead furniture is the primary cause of earthquake crushing injuries.
• Cabinet latches: Install spring-loaded latches on kitchen cabinet doors to prevent dishes, glass, and stored chemicals from spilling.
• Heavy objects on shelves: Move heavy items to lower shelves. A falling vase or toolbox causes the same injury as a falling piece of furniture.
• Water shut-off valve: Know where your main water shutoff is. Broken pipes flood homes after earthquakes. A wrench dedicated to the valve, stored with your emergency kit, means you can shut it in the dark.
• Gas shutoff: Know where your gas meter shutoff is and have the proper wrench. Only shut off gas if you smell gas, hear a hissing sound, or see damage to gas lines — unnecessarily shutting it off means days without heat and hot water while waiting for the utility to restore service.
• Chimney inspection: Unreinforced chimneys are dangerous in earthquakes. Have a masonry chimney inspected if you have one.

Your Earthquake Kit

An earthquake kit differs from a hurricane kit in one important way: you may not be able to return home immediately if the structure is red-tagged by inspectors. Your kit should be in your car or garage (accessible without entering the house), not inside a potentially compromised structure.

• Water: 1 gallon per person per day, minimum 3 days. Store in the car, garage, or outside the house.
• Food: 72-hour supply of non-perishable, no-cook food.
• First aid kit: Emphasize wound care — glass cuts are the most common earthquake injury.
• Sturdy shoes and work gloves: In your bedroom. Put shoes on before leaving the bedroom after nighttime shaking — broken glass is everywhere.
• Flashlight: Power outages are immediate. Keep one at the bedside.
• Dust masks (N95): Structural damage creates concrete and plaster dust.
• Pipe wrench and adjustable wrench: For water and gas shutoffs.
• Cash: ATMs go offline. $200+ in small bills.
• Documents: Copies of insurance policies, IDs, and emergency contacts in a waterproof bag.
• Battery or hand-crank radio: Cell towers fail or are overwhelmed. NOAA radio works independently.
• Battery bank: Keep fully charged. Cell phone is your primary information source after a quake.

After the Shaking: What the First 72 Hours Actually Look Like

Major earthquakes disrupt utilities for days to weeks. The Northridge earthquake (1994, M6.7) left 11,000 people without water service for days and 30,000+ without electricity. The Loma Prieta earthquake (1989, M6.9) caused infrastructure failures across the Bay Area. A Cascadia Subduction Zone event (the "big one" for the Pacific Northwest) could disrupt water and power for weeks in affected areas.

Water: Municipal water systems crack under severe ground shaking. Boil water advisories are common after major quakes. Filter all water (Sawyer MINI, LifeStraw) or boil it until your utility issues an all-clear.

Gas: Do not use gas appliances until your gas line has been inspected if you experienced strong shaking or smell gas. Gas-related fires are a major secondary hazard after earthquakes — the 1906 San Francisco earthquake's fire, not the shaking, caused most of the destruction.

Cell service: Cell towers fail or are overwhelmed with simultaneous calls. Text messages succeed when voice calls don't. Designate a single out-of-state contact point and text them when you're safe — local calls overload the network, while out-of-state connections are on different infrastructure.

High-Risk Zones in the US

• Pacific Coast: California (San Andreas, Hayward, Cascadia faults), Oregon, Washington — highest risk of damaging earthquakes
• Cascadia Subduction Zone: Oregon/Washington coast — capable of M9.0+ earthquake with associated tsunami for coastal communities
• New Madrid Seismic Zone: Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois — historically produced M7.0+ earthquakes, last major event 1811–1812
• Alaska: Among the most seismically active regions on Earth
• Hawaii: Volcanic activity creates regular seismic events
• Intermountain West: Utah, Nevada, Idaho — active fault systems

Official Resources

• FEMA Ready.gov — Earthquakes
• USGS Earthquake Hazard Maps — Find your area's seismic hazard level
• California Earthquake Authority — Earthquake insurance and California-specific resources
• Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills — Annual global drill, October

After an Earthquake: Who to Call for Help

In the aftermath of a major earthquake, knowing the right agency to contact — and in the right order — can mean the difference between getting assistance quickly and spending weeks without support.