If you live in an earthquake zone, you’ve probably been part of a conversation or two about earthquakes. You probably know that the earth’s crust is built out of plates that slide past each other, crash into each other, or veer away from each other. And if you live in the West Coast of Canada, you most likely already know that it’s one of very few places in the world, where all three types of movement take place.

So many predictions about “the big one” have been hovering over our heads like a dark cloud for so many years. Sometimes it seems difficult to find the balance between being afraid and living in ignorance because disasters are scary to think about.

One of the biggest ways to reduce fear is to be prepared. Here are some of the ways you can do this:

• Bring a new awareness to the places where you spend the most time (eg. home, work, friends’ homes). Think about the potential safe spots, and riskier spots, and talk about a designated meeting spot at each place.
• Practice dropping, covering and holding on. This is often practiced in schools, but as adults, we often let it slip from our minds. It’s like building up your reflexes to be quicker. A difference of a second or two could save your life!
• Think about everything in your home that could potentially fall and cause injury during an earthquake, and secure them in place. Bookshelves, mirrors, light fixtures and large paintings are all potentially dangerous items.
• Collect all of your critical documents and keep them, or photocopies of them together, with your emergency supplies. And that brings us to the other critical supplies that you should have stored!
• Your quake kit! One of the most preparation-minded kits you can get — to ease your mind — is our Premium Two Week Earthquake Kit for four people. Of course, we also stock premium kits for two people (and options for however many people you’re preparing for) as well as assorted food buckets that have a 25 year shelf life and incredibly long-lasting water cans that have a 50 year shelf life, and more!
• One major thing that often gets overlooked is the issue of human waste. You hear stories of people needing to live among their own waste for days, but then it gets forgotten quickly because it’s just not fun to think about. However, if you buy our Complete Toilet Set, you can forget about it in good conscious, and be ready when the need arises.

It’s wise to be prepared for at least a week of self-sufficiency after an earthquake but there’s no harm in planning for more. For a full checklist of items you should have ready, check out this website.

For more information and preparedness products, check out our new website, QuakeKit.ca!

From our blogger, Sophie Wooding