Earthquake Preparation is Your Family Safe?By Lance Winslow
Is your family ready for the big one? If not you should be and do not
for a second believe that Earthquakes only happen in California. There
are seismic faults all over the world and in some places you might not
even think of. You might be surprised how close you live to one and
realize with a big Earthquake damage can occur up to a 100 miles away
and that’s only from the shaking, not even thinking of Tsunami wave
action. One thing you must remember is simply because there has been a
large quake does not mean there will not be many aftershocks which
follow. The bigger the quake the larger the aftershocks and the longer
they can continue. After the Indonesia Quake the aftershocks continued
for nearly a year.
After an Earthquake, check to make sure there are no leaks, if you smell
gas, shut it off.
You need to have some sort of plan for your family, workplace and
household. It is always wise to have a family member or contact point
out of state that you can call and check in with to communicate messages
to your local family. It is smart to have shoes, extra set of clothes
and a jacket in your car in case you can’t get into your house or find
yourself with glass all around. Battery operated flash lights are
important as well as transistor radio. Make sure to have a small medical
kit for cuts and burns, which are common minor injuries, which do occur
in Earthquakes.
Do not eat all your food supplies the first day, ration out your supply
it could be days until you can get to a store and looting can get you
hurt or shot. Also be sure to have spare food for your pets. After you
see your family is okay fill up your bathtub with water, as there maybe
water lines broken this could be your last chance. Do not fill it
completely to the top as after shocks could spill it.
You should have enough food on hand for 5-7 days and do not expect the
government to come give you food, you have to look out for yourself.
Also if you take medicine always have two weeks worth. Don’t assume you
can go on a free shopping spree, when people start looting the store
shelves empty in less than a couple of hours. A Wal-Mart maybe a day,
but food will go fast, do not counting on joining the looters. If you
run out of water there is usually 40 or so gallons in the average hot
water heater and you can drain it out, assume you will need 1 gallon a
day per family member for drinking water to keep you alive.
I hope this helps get you thinking of the types of things you might
need. There are some valuable resources online as well as government
websites with more information, which can assist you in setting up your
family disaster plan. The purpose of this article is to get you to
think, do some research and not procrastinate; you never know when an
Earthquake will happen.
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