Some people will tell you that practice makes perfect. Others will insist that in order for practice to make perfect, it needs to be perfect practice. In other words, your preparation needs to involve more than simply putting in the time. It needs to be well-thought-out, focused, strategic preparation. It’s hard to argue with that reasoning.
With earthquake preparation, it’s the same! It’s good to put time (and some money) into building your earthquake kit, readying your home and your family, and practicing an earthquake drill regularly, where you drop, cover and hold on. However, practicing perfectly for an earthquake is pretty hard to do without going through an actual quake.
That’s why some people have set out to gamify some historical earthquakes. So that, because it’s impossible for most of us to learn via going through a real-life earthquake, we can instead take part in a virtual reality, and test our preparedness skills. This is one way to learn from others’ mistakes, and be free to make our own mistakes and then learn from them. Games are an especially great way to share earthquake knowledge with kids, while holding their attention. The act of playing a game should also help them remember the knowledge they’ve learned, in the event of a real earthquake.
In the spirit of preparedness—and making it fun—we want to share a few games we’ve come across, that can help you get ready for an earthquake via a virtual world:
- Beat the Quake – a simple quiz to test your home preparedness knowledge
- Inside the Haiti Earthquake – focused on relief efforts
- Rebuild Chile – for kids
- Earthquake Game – for kids
- Stop Disasters Game – earthquakes and more!
Whether it’s through games or not, getting the conversation about earthquake preparedness started is important! The more people you talk to about it, the more you have the opportunity to learn! So today, we encourage you to get involved. Make it a goal to play an earthquake game, or have a conversation this week, and see what happens!
Feel free to leave comments about the conversations you have, or the games you try, below!
-Content created by Sophie Wooding – Writer, gardener, cyclist and emergency preparedness enthusiast!