With all the shaking we’ve felt in the last few weeks, it’s important that you have an earthquake plan for your family and your home.

The biggest preparation you can do is BEFORE an earthquake.

Below are some of the most important tips to earthquake prepare your home and family:

• Insuring your home while costly, is one way to prepare your home for an earthquake. Call your home insurance provider so they can explain how earthquake insurance works in California and how much coverage you will need. NOTE: You cannot get earthquake insurance within 15 days of a major occurrence.

• Check and sign up for the California Brace and Bolt program, where you can bolt your foundation so it doesn’t shift in an earthquake.

  https://portal.earthquakeauthority.com/Community/Blog/2019/CEA-Brace-and-Bolt-A-Retrofit-Program-Just-for-You

• In an earthquake, natural gas leaks are possible, so keep a wrench near your gas meter and know how to use it to turn off the gas. Call the gas company if you need to turn it on. Note don’t turn it off unless you smell gas odorant or you may be waiting many weeks before they turn it on.

• If you have two bathrooms, consider having one be natural gas heated and the other heated by an electric (tankless) heater. You want to cover your family in case electrical lines are down or your natural gas is shut off.

• If you can, have two ways to cook (propane grill, natural gas grill vs electric stove).

• If you can, have an electric generator handy to give energy to your refrigerator.

• Do you have a glass table? Consider getting a wooden table to have a place to protect yourself and family.

• Store extra water per person, canned or freeze dry food. Its easy to buy a ready made earthquake kit online. Don’t forget to have extra pet food.

• Fasten all things that can fly out. Picture frames can hurt you as they fly off the wall. Special metal brackets are sold to safely fasten the frame more securely to the wall.

• Heavy items like microwaves high up or unfastened tvs/computers need to be fasten down.

• Fasten bookcases to the walls. Light weight bookcases can easily fall and heavy ones can kill if not fastened to the walls behind them.

• Use earthquake wax to keep smaller items/pottery from falling easily.

• Pick up toys from the ground regularly. People have been killed from tripping over toys on floors as they ran to their kids bedrooms.

• Keep cars’ gas tanks full. Keep your phones charged. Have extra batteries. Have extra toilet paper and supplies.

• Have an old fashioned socket/plug in phone handy as cell phones may get bogged down.

• Have sturdy shoes handy (like under a bed) to avoid stepping on broken glass.

• Consider placing a sign on your door indicating whether you are okay or need help. Red means help, green means okay here.

• Take a CERT class in your area and you will become more comfortable with knowing what to do and how to protect your family and home.

• Remain calm and then checking in on others, can go a long way.

By Camelia V. Vera, DRE 01871575