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Slashdot Asks: How Prepared Are You For an Earthquake?
With three earthquakes of some significance in the news this weekend (Chile, California, and Iceland), it seems a good time to ask: If you live in an area of seismic danger, how are you prepared for an earthquake (or tsunami, mudslide, or other associated danger) and how prepared are you? Do you have a stash of emergency supplies, and if so, how did you formulate it? In the U.S. alone, it's surprising how many areas there are with some reasonable chance of earthquakes, though only a few of them are actually famous for it — and those areas are the ones where everything from building codes to cultural awareness helps mitigate the risks. I'm not sure I'd want to be in a skyscraper in Memphis or St. Louis during a replay of the New Madrid quakes of 1811-1812, which is probably worth worrying about for those in the region. Beyond personal safety, do you have a plan for your electronics and data if the earth starts shaking?
I live in New Mexico, and we don't have many earthquakes, or tall buildings, so I am not prepared at all.
I drink alot of coffee and take amphetimines and coke and stuff and I'm totally spastic so when an earthquake hits, I'm the only one standing still.
rewriting history since 2109
That's why we destroy water supplies to export shitty shale oils.
Electronics? Really? Those are just things. They can be replaced. My data is backed up and can be restored. The things to worry about are food, medical supplies, and water. We always have about a month's worth of food and water stored away in the event of some sort of disaster. I don't give a fuck about my electronic devices. I care about the life and well being of myself and my wife, and like I said data can be restored.
I live in an area without Earthquakes.
But when i lived in Japan:
-Emergency radio with Crank generator and LED flashlight, Buzzer (in case you are trapped inside a (partially) collapsed house and dont want to shout all the time), mobile phone charger, and radio receiver for all channels, lying close/in my bed (http://tlet.co.jp/pro_radio/ty_jr11/index_j.htm)
-2 Liters of water (i lived alone)
In Japan we had earthquake drills of the housing community one time per year, and one time per year in the company. In the housing community we were shown the nearest small emergency area, which had food and water stored in boxes, medical supplies and tools/shovels. We trained how to use fire extinguishers.
And everybody shoudl have had look at (and i had) how to reach the next bigger emergency area (which typically was a bigger public park with an area for helicopter landings and some toilets.
I'll be honest, as a resident of a very earthquake prone area of California I have at times forgotten about being prepared. However, there is no excuse for it. For me, I have set aside a small area in a closet with a rubbermaid container with the following set up for my family of 4:
1 Case of 36 water bottles (changed out annually)
1 Box of water purification tablets
16 Freeze Dried "MRE" foods (20yr shelf life)
1 Coleman propane stove
2M HAM Radio + spare Li-Ion Battery & Solar Charger for talking with family
AM/FM 2xAA Battery radio + Solar AA Charger
2 Flashlights w/ AA Rechargeable Batteries
Where I live (Nova Scotia) basically doesn't have earthquakes. So the risk here would be Tsunami from a distant earthquake. Interestingly enough if there were a Tsunami the configuration of the seafloor would cause it to be massive and wipe everything out for 10 or more miles inland.
I am not sure how many bottles of water I would need for that scenario.
Yeah, but now you're in Minnesota.
You are welcome on my lawn.
We have a self-contained travel trailer that doubles as natural disaster supplies. Stocked with canned and boxed food for weeks, 14 gallons of propane (always more than 7, since you swap tanks when one of 'em empties and top 'em off after a trip) can keep the fridge going for months, and we have a couple spare tanks.
40 gallons of fresh water are good for three days of camping WITH showers. In a natural disaster you can skip the showers and stretch it for a month or so. A couple hundred amp-hours of batteries (i.e. two of 'em) can keep things going for a while and can be charged from solar panels (or the vehicle engine) as well. (And we're just starting to convert the lighting to LEDs, for about a 8-16x improvement in power consumption vs. incandescents.)
The townhouse also has canned food for months and a case or two of bottled drinking water (as does the ranch house, which also has a well if we ever get a generator, windmill, or solar panels & inverter that can run it when grid power is out.) It also provides redundancy if the trailer is damaged, just as the trailer provides redundancy if the house collapses or burns.
Travel trailers are not very expensive. Set them up for a weekend's camping, park them far enough from the house that expected disaster cases don't zap 'em both, and they'll give you your "three days until help arrives" in style, or a month's survivalist roughing-it. They also have the advantage that, if they don't get damaged in the initial event or you have warning, you can hook 'em up and move to a safer or more convenient location. All "for free" if you like occasional camping, or cross-country ground travel without having to rent allergenic hotel rooms. B-)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Background: I live on North Oakland, next to Berkeley, in the Rockridge section. Urban, detached 2 bedroom house about 100 years old.
We bolted down our house, fully reinforced the stemwalls, and installed shearwalls. For our little 2-bedroom bungalow in Oakland, this set us back around $20,000. Earthquake insurance seemed outrageous (around $2,500/year, with very limited benefits). Along with the earthquake retrofit, we set aside a few cases of food & twenty 5-gallon jugs of water. A 2Kw Honda generator. Radio, flashlights, FRS walkie-talkies, etc. Small amount of medical stuff.
Yes, I have onsite and offsite backups (that's easy); the real problem would be connectivity after a quake. There's probably a hundred telephone poles between my house and the central office.
Some challenges: Keeping food & water fresh is a problem - cans get rusty as water condenses on cold surfaces. Some camping food goes bad. MRI rations taste, well, horrible. We should replace water & food annually, and generally forget to. (We discovered diapers in our earthquake stash, left over from when our college kids were infants)
Storing gasoline for the generator is a problem. I'm told that gasoline gets stale after a few months (is this true, or an urban legend?). It's a pain to lug a 3 gallon gas can around, and it's not something I want under my house. (I store it in a shed, where it's out of sight & out of mind - so I rarely refresh it. Is there a small, 5 or 10 gallon under-ground gasoline storage tank?). I should start and exercise the generator every month; it's more like every two years or so. Our experience in the 1989 quake was that gas stations can't pump after an earthquake (no power).
Our neighborhood's quake group (the Oakland - Rockridge Shakers) meets every summer, and the earthquake drills have been quite useful - we've had several fun practice sessions, where we hunt for human dummies hidden around the neighborhood, search for downed wires, and practice using walkie-talkies. Afterwards, it's a block party, and we compare notes while sharing lunch.
My home business, Acme Klein Bottles, lost two glass Klein bottles in last night's quake. Both fell off a shelf and shattered on the floor. Good lesson: keep my glassware stored down low, with holders to prevent boxes from shifting. Since most of my glass Klein bottles are stored under our house; a major local temblor that destroyed the house would also wipe out the business.
We had a 7.1 10 kms (6 miles) down the road... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2...
We had plenty of food and water, we were a bit cold as we didn't want to light the woodburner until we checked it out properly. Had a nice BBQ with the neighbours and enjoyed a bit of quiet time and early nights as power was out for three days.
It hit at 4:35 am. However I still don't sleep approriately attired for running out of the house in the night, nor do I have shoes by the side of my bed for walking over broken glass. Most probably the two most important lessons right there (oh and don't put your bed beside a brick chimney, not that we do...).
All of my bookshelves are strapped to the wall. My hot water heater has three straps (only 2 are required). Emergency rations are available plus I have my camping equipment and propane for my stove. Next to my bed I have an emergency radio that charges via USB, solar or a hand crank. I'm not terribly concerned about water though I keep several gallons of bottled water. I have a water purification system for camping but the main water supply is literally two blocks away from me though it's on the other side of the Hayward Fault. They just retrofitted the water pipes crossing the fault a few months ago right near my house. In an emergency there's always 50 gallons in my hot water tank. I also have a wrench handy for turning off the water and gas. I'm more worried about gas, especially given that we're supplied by PG&E. It took many years of complaining by my parents until they fixed a rather sizeable gas leak under their property. The only thing I'm missing is a generator.
I imagine I'll have a lot of stuff falling off of my shelves making a huge mess.
My house is only a few hundred feet from the Hayward fault. The fault goes right through one of the nearby apartment buildings. Many years ago the developers would conveniently relocate the fault to suit them. Our old city hall which was built on stilts was built on top of a mound that was pushed up between two traces of the Hayward Fault.
My house is bolted to its foundation and is only a single story so it will probably be OK though I might have some damage from my chimney. I also have earthquake insurance though it's quite expensive (around $4K/year).
This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
After living in Christchurch, I can tell you that nothing mentally can prepare you.
But have water, fuel, sleeping bags, crank radio, and a tent on hand.
Fights break out over fuel - that was a surprise to me.
Water takes a long time to get where it is needed - and then it takes horrible and may even make you sick.
And be prepared to bug out - leave your material possessions behind. You realize how much of a burden material things are after an earthquake.
I was awake and felt the Californina quake [I'm in Santa Clara county]. It's probably the 7th or so quakes I've felt over the last 30 years. Where I was it was a small sway for 3-4 seconds. I was lucky [my heart goes out to those more deeply affected]. In the 1989 quake I was in Europe, but came back to find my place had stuff flung everywhere.
My prep [not great]:
- 20 cans of spam [survival rate: one can/day]
- Bottles of water
- Bleach [1 drop per gallon of water from the toilet tank]
- Flashlights with batteries
- Landline phone (with old trimline so that it works w/o power)
- Try to keep my gas tank at least 1/2 full
- Car charger for cell phone
- USB thumb drive on my key ring with copies of all my important documents [*]
[*] Had a fire that gutted half the building near mine once. I had HD backups of data, but they could have gone up in smoke. After that, I got the thumb drive. Now I scan in as much as I can [or print receipt/confirmations to .pdf files]
Like a good neighbor, fsck is there
I would suggest reading up on http://www.sf72.org/home if you haven't already.
One piece of advice is that if you collect portable camping gear, you'll find yourself decently prepared, since many of the items you need for camping also assume that you don't have regular infrastructure. Camping food/water also have 5+ year shelf life, so you can go camping and use up your old supply, as well as get practice using all your gear. No point waiting 20+ years to find out you have no idea how to use it.
So... between a month of food/water, a tent, sleeping bags, portable lanterns, wood/gasoline stoves, portable cookware, water filtration kits, solar power stations, hand-crank radio/light/chargers, steel-bottom/tip shoes, kevlar gloves, household tools (hammer, nails, wrenches, etc), outdoor tools (shovel, hand-operated chainsaw, etc), real first aid kits, etc, you find yourself decently prepared.
An added luxury would be a generator... Though costly, that would help keep your fridge alive, and there's usually a week+ worth of food in there, and you don't need your generator running 24-7 to prevent the contents from spoiling. Having enough fuel (or siphon from your car), extension cables, and a safe place to safely deploy it without concentrating CO or attracting too much attention might be a challenge, though. In a pinch, you can do this without a generator by using your running car and a 120V inverter, but that means leaving your car on, and again, we run into the same issues mentioned above.
If you're concerned about personal mobility, it's worth noting that you can buy solid (but heavy) mountain bike tires that cannot have flats, and it's something I've considered, but have not acted on yet.
All in all, I hope we all can get a bit more prepared and increase our chances at making it through these challenging events...
I'm not sure I'd want to be in a skyscraper in Memphis or St. Louis during a replay of the New Madrid quakes of 1811-1812,
Almost certainly safer than anywhere else. Skyscrapers are pretty much universally steel-framed structures which are relatively resistant to seismic loading, subject to stringent building codes, by definition need massive foundations driven to a solid base, and already need to resist dynamic wind-loading forces with resonance effects. Even mid-rise 6-10 story buildings are likely to be quite safe given the inherent seismic benefits of steel-frame construction and attention paid to building codes in the USA.
Has any modern skyscraper ever experienced significant structural failure resulting in loss of life as a result of an earthquake? Ever? Even in areas known for less-than-enthusiastic enforcement of building standards?
"We have to go forth and crush every world view that doesn't believe in tolerance and free speech." - David Brin
In the last 4 years I have experienced the following:
1x Magnitude 7 quake
5x Magnitude 6 quakes
Lost count of the magnitude 5s. If I wasn't thrown out of bed, I didn't bother getting up and running for cover.
This was all living in the one city (Christchurch.) Prior to the quakes the city was considered to have a reasonably low risk of quakes - and then it was expected damage would occur from fault lines around 100km away. However it was hit by shallow quakes directly under the city.
What I learnt (not all from first hand experience, but I know people did):
Damage to property and services vary wildly - and generally the ground conditions have a far greater affect on damage than proximity to the epicentre.
Avoid liquifiable ground. Not only is the shaking worse in those areas, all the services and roads will be completely ruined.
Avoid living on the very tops of hills. Shaking internally reflects and all the energy gets focused at the top of the hills.
Avoid living at the top or bottom of cliffs or hillsides below rock outcrops. Falling rocks are bad!
Cell phones are useless in a disaster. You'd think the civil defense would know this, but they decided cellphones would be cheaper and easier than a 2 way radio system. They learnt their lesson the hard way.
Trying to call people via land lines is equally bad. However, in my case, the internet worked perfectly. (Skype out was very handy for getting hold of people outside of the city.)
Severely damaging quakes can hit anywhere (even in what are considered to be zero/low risk areas.) It's only the interval between quakes that vary.
Keep a shovel handy for creating emergency toilets.
The two things super markets run out of fastest: Bread and water. There are plenty of other food stuffs that can be used in a pinch. I resorted to making my own bread - water supply never stopped, but did have to boil a lot of water.
Greater magnitude of quake doesn't necessarily mean more damage. You should be more worried about PGA (Peak Ground Acceleration.) The worst parts of Christchurch had PGA of 2.2 G (yes more than 20 m/s^2) in a mag 6 quake. In contrast the single mag. 7 only produced PGA of 0.4 G. 185 people died in the mag. 6, vs only 2 injured enough to go to hospital in the mag. 7.
Here you go: http://eugeneciurana.com/fotki... -- that's a photo of the stashes we have in our home in Acapulco and in San Francisco. Both are in active seismic zones, and likely to get hit by some disaster at some point.
Since you can see most of the contents, I rather tell you about our guidelines for disaster preparedness:
* Have enough supplies to subsist for up to 7 days, normal calorie intake, for everyone in the family
* Ditto for water
* Tool box with emergency tools (wrench for gas and water valves, pliers, screw drivers, a couple of Leatherman tools), matches, and
* Solid alcohol stove and several refills
* Full first aid kit including gauze, ice packs, antiseptics, anti-diarrhea pills, etc. and a sewing kit
* Crank radios and flashlights
* Battery operated perimeter lamps
* Assorted Cyalume sticks in green, white, blue, and red colors
* Deck of cards, puzzles, etc. to kill the time
The food is all either canned or dehydrated, and it works way better than MREs. The only thing we'd miss are fresh fruits; we even have powdered milk. Every year around Dec/Jan I consciously cook with all the things in the food stash that are within ~6 months of recommended use by date. All those things are replenished and ready to go. We found that most cans and dehydrated food have an approximate 18-24 months duration, so we don't go on the Spam and etc. diet more than every other year for more than 2 or 3 days. Plus it's fun readying everything and testing, etc.
Last night -- the earthquake woke my g/f up (we were in our SF home). The bookshelves rattled a bit, and I was wondering if the quake had been strong enough to knock my motorcycle off the center stand, but the toddler was fine and slept through it, power never faltered, and otherwise it was a nice and uneventful evening.
I lived through several earthquakes in my life (in fact, all my life I lived in seismic zones) so I'll be happy to address questions, if any.
Cheers!
http://eugeneciurana.com | http://ciurana.eu
This is my check list of things to do in the event of local/national disaster:
1. Head to the nearest Wal-Mart, Kmart, Costco or whatever and pick-up 20 lbs. of white or brown rice and 20 lbs. of pinto beans. White rice has a better storage life while brown rice has more nutritional benefits Ã" your choice.
2. While youÃ(TM)re there grab 5 lbs. mixed beans, 5 lbs. of white sugar, 5 lbs. of iodized salt, one gallon of olive oil (can be frozen to extend shelf-life), 5 lbs. oats, 10 lbs. each of white or wheat flour and cornmeal.
3. Now head over to the canned foods and pick-up 20 cans of canned fruits and 20 cans of canned vegetables. Be sure to buy only those brands and contents you normally eat and nothing exotic. No need to shock the senses.
4. Now over to the canned meats. Pick-up 20 cans of various meats, salmon, stews, spam and tuna. Again buy only those brands with contents you normally eat and nothing exotic.
5. Okay. Now to the to the peanut butter shelf and toss two 40-ounce jars in the cart. The listed shelf life is just over two years and each jar has over 6,000 calories. Peanut butter is an excellent instant survival food.
6. Over to the powdered drink mix Ã" go on IÃ(TM)ll waitæOkay, pick up two 72 Ounce Tang Orange drink canisters (provides 100% of the US RDA vitamin C requirement per 8 oz. glass). Also grab six 19-Ounce Containers of Kool-Aid Drink Mix.
7. Off to the vitamin and supplement aisle, pick up 400 tablets Ãoeone a dayà multivitamin and mineral supplements. I buy this brand at the local Wal-Mart Ã" comes in 200 count bottle for $8 each.
8. Now to the department we all love Ã" sporting goods. Go to the camping aisle and pick up 4 five gallon water containers. Fill with tap water as soon as you get back home.
9. While youÃ(TM)re there buy 250 rounds of ammunition for your primary defensive weapon. More if you can, but this will be a good start. Also a good universal cleaning kit.
10. And lastly pick up the best LED flashlight you can afford, extra batteries and bulb. Also grab two boxes of wooden matches and several multi-purpose lighters. DonÃ(TM)t forget to date, use and rotate Ã" remember first in first out. LetÃ(TM)s get started. What would you add to the list?
Yep, my Lootin Bag is there and all accounted for.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
It pays to prepare, even if you don't live in a quake-prone area. I've felt 7 quakes in all and most have been while I was on the road, including yesterday's Chile quake, when I was in the Santiago airport. It was strong enough that the staff came through later to make sure everyone was OK and to admonish everyone that they should have stayed away from the windows. The duty free shop was shut down, so I guess the lesson is to get your shopping out of the way sooner rather than waiting.
I have 3 identical Backpacks that contain the following 1 Pump Action Shot Gun 1 .45 handgun
10 boxes of ammo for each gun
1 machete
1 Spyder hunting/Utility knife
Magnesium Firestarter
LED Flashlight
Compass
a couple dozen dehydrated meals
Sumo mini cooker
4 propane cans for teh Sumo
2 gallons of Water
A couple pouches of Beef Jerky
Bivy Sack
Tarp
2 20" lengths of nylon rope
1 travel sized 1st Aid kit
I keep one in my Car, one at home in the Hall Closet and one as a GeoStash out in an outlaying sparsely populated area I can get to by foot if needed. The contents of these bags are very versatile and will cover me in the case of Zombie Apocalypse, Governmental Collapse/Tyranny, Alien Invasion and oh yes... Earth Quakes
I'll take my chances with the tsunamis.
I've been to Minnesota.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I have no need to prepare for earthquakes. I do have a plan for Hurricanes. The good thing about Hurricanes is you can see them coming. So I just keep a Hurricane plan. In general I do not keep water bottles just water storage containers. I have found I do not drink the water bottles so that is wasteful.
The plan:
1) Keep staples such as rice, noodles, and beans in pantry and a supply of batteries. (that plus food in freezer is usually enough for 3/5 days.
2) Fill freezer with water jugs (old milk cartons or any thing else not for drinking)
3) Check all camping gear
4) board up House (or tape windows)
5) Pack go bag
6) stay/go decision
If cat 4/5 shut of gas/water and go
else stay fill bath tubs, drinking containers and all post/pans with water.
Water containers are for drinking, bath tubs and pots pans are for bathing or flushing toilet if water pressure is lost.
for the electronics part. Just back up your essential data in solid state storage. You'll be dead or severely injured before your SSD, SD card, etc, is damaged, at which point you stop worrying about your electronics.
As for the other, more important stuff, I have an emergency grab bag in my room just for such incidents. All the essentials, including the flashlight and first aid kid, are packed. The food is in the fridge, which is on the way out.
Data shmata. I didn't give two farts about my data. Here's my experience from the Christchurch NZ quakes. First, before the quakes, look around your house and pretend you were Hulk and wanted to throw furniture around. This is the stuff you have to secure : bookcases, televisions, freestanding pantries and wardrobes, fish tanks. After the quake, we lost power for a few days, fresh water for a month, and weren't allowed to flush the toilet for three months. I had 20 litres of fresh water which was enough for me alone as my wife and infant child moved out of town for ten days. Plenty of tinned food and a camp stove if I needed it, but we have a propane cooktop in the house that would probably go for a couple months on the bottled gas. Had to crap in a hole in the yard for a few days until the city distributed chemical toilets. Cell networks were remarkably resilient. I would suggest keeping an older (non smart) cell phone around that you can pop your SIM into. My old phone would go days without a charge, smartphone needs charge daily. Your issues are shelter, fresh water, food and food storage, sanitation, and communication. Think all these things through. I now have a 1000 litre rainwater tank and purifier. Also a hand cranked torch (flashlight) that doubles as phone charger. Get to know your neighbours as much as you can, you may need to rely on them. I know at least ten of my neighbours, and their relative skill sets (ones a HAM operator, for instance). Be prepared. We got lucky.