ready for an earthquake?

Hi, Pat! Hawaiians are being hit with a tsunami. I just spoke with a friend there, who is hoping hr home is far enough up the mountain. Could Mother Nature be slapping us around for all the damage we've done? Of course, many of these events are part of a natural chain reaction. Still, there are so many disasters lately, one can't help wondering! Here in Miami, we're almost always ready in case a hurricane hits, even out of hurricane season...

I live in California. Seeing as the San Andreas fault lies along this region I am surprised at the limited action the government has taken in case an earthquake did strike. California has the highest population in the United States, including some of the largest cities in the world such as Los Angeles etc. With these huge metropolitan areas it is of the utmost importance that more funding is given to earthquake research, and if one does strike, to have a better plan.

I am not as ready as I could be. Many of my friends both here and on another site have written about readiness before. I do have some canned goods. I do have some water. A television personality says we need to have cash on hand because power outages will paralyze banking. He suggests stacks of twenties. We have wood we could burn, but nothing to burn it in inside, so we would be cold. We would be hot in the summer. We would like to get a generator. We would have to store fuel for it as well. I have a hand crank flashlight, but I think it would be nice to get a hand crank charger for phones and a radio that was hand cranked as well.

I could get by for a week or so, but not too much longer than that. I might have to kill my offspring though, as they will be non-stop complaining about the lack of food choices. But they will have more sympathy for the folks in Haiti...

I saw a tsunami watch for the coast of California yesturday. I don't think I would be reasy. I have nothing really in the way of emergency food or anything for that matter. I have been worrying over an alternative heat source since I bought this house and still haven't done a thing about it.

Of course not. Who is? This does remind me of the 1960s her ein the UK when we were all fearful of nuclear attack. The wealthy or people with a little nest egg could make themselves a bunker and fill it with necessities for a month or so until the air would no longer be contaminated and it would be safe to come out. Soemonewas making lots of money out of it. Of course it was all unnecessary. We haven't had pollution from nuclear attack as yet. Earthquakes though could be a different matter.

I believe that most people in the country would fare quite well. Earthquakes do not kill, its buildings made of cement blocks piled one on top of the next, with no supports that kill. I expect your house is made of wood. If it is you need to teach your kids where to get shelter from falling items and perhaps some ceiling material. Door casings, and under tables are safe places. tell everyone to run outside as quickly as possible. If you have animals on your farm, and some vegetables in your garden you will always have food. Its surprising what you can do with a sharp knife when you are yours are hungry!

I'm as ready as I can be for a disaster. We don't get quakes here but there are other things like being snowed in, flooding, tornadoes and trucking strikes. I have a month's worth of food and water stored and I rotate them every few months. I have a cookstove and fuel for it. Extra medicine, first aid supplies, clothing, blankets, etc. I also keep cash on hand in case I need to get somewhere and nobody is able to take debit or credit cards. I have a hand-cranked radio, plenty of flashlights and candles and matches, reading material, sewing supplies, plastic and paper servingware. You name it, I have it, including an escape plan for my house or city and a safe room in case of home invasion. The only thing I've not been able to fully prepare for is April 15.

i don't think anybody will ever be ready for an earthquake. even if we say we are trained on how to deal with disasters like earthquake and fire and others, once the disaster happens you cannot say, calm down, calm down. every one will be shocked, and will only find their way to survive.

Hi pat~ That is really very disturbing to hear that you would be only able to survive pretty much for such a short time! We only had one earthquake here in my area about 20 years ago and that one was really a big surprise since we were always led to believe that NY would never have earthquakes! It was just a 2.5 or so, but it was definitley one that shook the house and made a frighteningly deafening noise like none I have ever heard before and since we didn't have a clue why our furniture was moving across the room it was indeed a surprise! When I was finally able to get any information and found out that is was indeed an earthquake and I was very close to the fault line I had a whole new respect for the states where they did occur! So, I pray that you never have to experience one again!

Ready no I'm not? But we can't do anything about it. Warning about earthquakes will not prevent them from happening. I also think that if you are outdoor you don't risk as much as if you was inside a building.

You can't be ready for an earthquake. However you could know what to do in case of this happening and avoid panic.

hi savypat, as of now we are under the red alert for tsunami. according to the news it could happen anywhere between 1pm- 1pm my time or the eastern standard time equivalent. the local government unit has not yet ordered evacuation but as japan is in critical condition right now we are monitoring the news from time to time. I hope this does not happen at all.

I'm not sure I believe in psychics, but my neighbor is one. The day before the earthquake in Chile, my psychic neighbor was freaking out. She not only predicted the earthquake in Chile but the one in Japan. Now for the bad news, if you believe in psychics...she says California is next and she feels like it's going to be northern California. Let's hope she just ate something that's disagreeing with her. In the mean time, if I lived in California and knew I lived on a fault, I'd have plenty of fresh water, food, pet food, matches, batteries, a back-up generator, etc. on hand.

hi savypat I am here in California and no I am not ready for an earthquake either plus I am on the second story of a retirement center in a building thirty or forty years old. this does make me think. for years we have got those small shakes and got pretty blase about the whole thing, yet we all know we could have a really bad one so no I dont think we are prepared at all. but if we survive the shake the kitchen here does have a pretty good stock of foods all the time as they have to feed almost one hundred p eople three times a d ay all month. i am wondering if this building has been prepared for quake safety as some were in Tustin.

I'm not ready by no means but thats because I don't see an earthquake happening in New Mexico. If I lived in an area where we were subjected to this happening I definitely would be prepared with food, water and a first aid kit. There was another earthquake in Japan this morning -7.3 on the richter scale. I'm so afraid that California will be next but I'm praying that I'm wrong.