Red Cross Earthquake Safety

The Red Cross has an interesting site that explores earthquake safety. Being one of the premier disaster relief groups in the United States, we thought reviewing and restating Earthquake Safety from the Red Cross would be a useful idea.

The ideas presented in this blog post are pulled more or less right off the Red Cross website.

Red Cross Top Tips for Quake Safety:

The Red Cross website states that the “Top Tips” for earthquake safety include: “Practice Drop, Cover, and Hold On” with everyone in the location. Additionally they state that contrary to what many folks think true- doorways are not any stronger “than any other part of a structure.” They also suggest that You “get under a sturdy piece of furniture and hold on [during the quake].”

Prepare in Advance says the Red Cross:

The Red Cross suggests preparing for an earthquake in advance. The following are ideas that they provide:

Buy or Make an Earthquake Kit

Create an Evacuation Plan

Stay Informed

Have a Plan for reestablishing communication with important individuals after an earthquake event.

Download an Emergency Cell Phone App

Additional Safety Prep Items from the Red Cross of America:

The organization details in a bit more depth three main categories of preparation for an earthquake: Protecting your Family, Protecting your Pets and Animals, and Protecting your Home. Pets and animals are one category that numerous individuals fail to be prepared for.

In regards to protecting your family they have 5 or 6 main points. Here is a condensed verion:

Speak with your family about what to do in case of a quake.

Check your place of employment and childrens school for their earthquake plans

Pick a Safe place in “each room of your home.”

“Practice DROP, COVER and HOLD ON.”

Be prepared with access to NOAA broadcasts on radio or online.

Regarding Protection of your Home / Property – the Red Cross makes the following suggestions.

“Bolt and brace water heaters and gas appliances to wall studs.” Use a professional for this.

Don’t “hang heavy items…anywhere people sleep or sit.” This seems obvious but most homeowners seem to ignore this.

Use latches on cabinets.

Have a wrench ready to shut off the gas. You will need a wrench ready to do this. They do not mention this, but many homes have automatic gas shut off valves [so called earthquake valves] that can automatically accomplish this.

“Place large and heavy objects and breakable items…on lower shelves.”

“Anchor overhead lighting fixtures to joists.”

“Anchor top-heavy, tall and freestanding furniture…to wall studs to keep these from toppling over.”

Get professional advice about “home repair and strengthening… for exterior features, such as porches, decks, sliding glass doors, canopies, carports and garage doors.”

“Learn about your area’s seismic building standards and land use codes before you begin new construction.” This site is not sure that we understand this specific suggestion. Obviously is you are building a new house, check the building codes and earthquake risk. However new builds are rare. If you are buying an exisiting house, do your research. Learn about the earthquake risk and learn about your local building codes. Is the home up to local building codes?

“Have a professional…[get your house] securely anchored to its foundation…” This is not exactly as the Red Cross says it, but the idea is the same. Have a professional confirm that you house is either secured and bolted to the foundation or get it bolted to the foundation.

Their suggestions are bit light, in our opinion about having a professional engineer come and evaluate your house. A lot of progress can be made rather simply in my many instances. A professional builder or an engineer will have lots of suggestions and it is almost always cheaper to spend money hardening the house rather than fixing it.

Additionally there is a debate about if it makes more sense to spend money hardening the home or buying earthquake insurance. Regardless it can be difficult to do the math on this calculation without knowing both costs.

About Earthquakes:

There are varying definitions of earthquakes on various websites. Please note that most important definition of an earthquake [if you have earthquake insurance] is the definition on your earthquake policy. But dictionary.com defines earthquake as “a series of vibrations induced in the earth’s crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating.”

About Earthquake Definitions of Earthquakes:

According to the California Earthquake Authority, an earthquake “means a vibration-generating rupture event caused by displacement within the earth’s crust through release of strain associated with tectonic processes and includes effects such as ground shaking, liquefaction, and damaging amplification of ground motion….” that according to the BEQ-3B (01-2019 edition). Your EQ policy might have a different definition.

The Red Cross Earthquake Safety Checklist:

The Red Cross, on their site also offers a downloadable earthquake safety checklist, available in at least nine different languages. This list contains some of the same suggestions plus addtional ones.

What to Do During an Earthquake, according to the Red Cross:

The Red Cross has quite a few suggestions concerning safety during a quake. Their main point, made again and again is to practice “DROP, COVER and HOLD ON!”

They recommend “Mov[ing] as little as possible” and “Try[ing] to protect your head and torso.”

“Stay indoors until the shaking stops and you are sure it is safe to exit.” And “If you must leave a building after the shaking stops, use stairs rather than an elevator in case of aftershocks, power outages or other damage.”

“Smoke alarms and sprinkler systems frequently go off in buildings during an earthquake…”

“If you smell gas, get out of the house and move as far away as possible.”

“Before you leave any building check to make sure that there is no debris from the building that could fall on you.”

This is an abbreviated version. The Red Cross also has a list of what do to be safe outdoors, we have ommitted this section.

Red Cross – How to Stay Safe After an Earthquake.

So you have survived the quake, now what? They suggest only going back home [if you were away] once authorities say you may. “Check yourself for injuries and get first aid…” They state that “After an earthquake, the disaster may continue.” Remember the the Quake and Tsunami of Japan?

When you feel any aftershocks, practice ” DROP, COVER and HOLD ON.” Lastly and very importantly “Look for and extinguish small fires. Fire is the most common hazard after an earthquake.”

About the Red Cross:

According to wikipedia, the The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is “a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers members and staff worldwide.” It was created to “protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering.” The group is broken up into “three distinct organisations that are legally independent from each other…”

The organization traces its roots back to Europe in the 1860s and the Geneva Convention.

About Earthquake Insurance:

Earthquake insurance is a type of property insurance that protects the insured from a specific type of land movement called earthquakes. Typically earthquake insurance is sold with high deductibles and is considered a catastrophic risk. Most Americans are not insured for the peril of earthquake.

Source of Informaation for this article from the Red Cross can be found here.