Extra Tips for Extreme Earthquake Preparedness

Emergency PreparednessEarthquakes are a common topic of conversation in regions and communities along the Pacific Ring of Fire—and rightly so! In West Coast communities in British Columbia, for example, more talk of “the big one” means more steps taken to protect ourselves. And at Quake Kit, we’re all for these conversations leading away from fear-mongering and towards preparedness.

Many of us could list the top earthquake safety tips, and that is a wonderful thing. If you’re not sure of what they are, feel free to brush up on the basics by visiting a previous blog post of ours, called Earthquake Preparedness while living in the Zone. But today, we want to talk about a few tips that are more detail-oriented and less talked about, but could end up being life-savers!

These tips are a compilation gathered from the community of Victoria BC a few years back and compiled on the City of Victoria’s website. If you’d like to add any tips of your own to this list, we’d love to hear from you about your thoughts!

  1. Always keep a flashlight near your bed.
  2. Do not hang anything above your bed.
  3. Keep a card with all your important phone numbers in your wallet or purse.
  4. Make sure you have at least one phone at home that does not require electricity to function.
  5. Keep a pair of sturdy, close-toed shoes under your bed in case you need to leave suddenly. This will protect your feet from broken glass and debris.
  6. Arrange an out-of-province contact person. Each family member would call this person following an earthquake and receive news on how the others are doing.
  7. Identify hazards in your home. Educate family members that some objects (eg. windows, bookcases, cupboards) are not good places to be near in an earthquake.
  8. Tie a wrench to the gas meter so that you can quickly turn it off, if the need arises.
  9. Buy a four litre bottle of water with each paycheque*; keep doing this until there is enough bottled water in the home for each person (*read below for more water storage ideas!)

At Quake Kit, we’d add that if you’re keeping your flashlight near your bed, why not keep an emergency kit also near your bed. Another kit should be easily accessible in your home or vehicle. We’d also suggest that you purchase water carefully, thinking ahead to how long it may need to last. Why not stock up on Blue Can water, a few litres at a time? After all, it has a 50-year shelf life!

As we mentioned earlier, it would be fantastic to hear your thoughts on emergency preparedness, and what extra things you’ve done or are planning to do to set your mind at ease. Please feel free to leave comments in the section below, and stay tuned for some upcoming posts about earthquake preparedness in particular situations—like driving, or being at school, or playing with your pets.

Article contributed by Sophie Wooding – Avid gardener and cyclist in Victoria, BC and Content Writer for Frontier.io

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