April is Earthquake Awareness Month

(This is part one of a series of four)

An earthquake can happen with little or no warning.  The best way to survive an earthquake is to prepare for one. 

April is Earthquake Awareness Month - the State of Washington will be having its annual Earthquake drill on April 21 and Navy Region Northwest will hold a region-wide Earthquake exercise on April 28. 

Falling objects and shattered glass are major injury producers during an earthquake. 

Inspect each room to remove or secure items that could crash down from high shelves.  Secure high items, televisions and personal computers as well as dressers, open shelves and hanging pictures ahead of time with straps or other attachment to the wall or large horizontal surface. Reduce the chance of walking on sharp broken objects by storing breakable items such as bottled foods, glass and china in low, closed cabinets with latches.

Move heavy objects away from beds, couches, and anywhere else where people sit and sleep. The most dangerous room may be your kitchen with heavy appliances, drawers full of large knifes and silverware and overhead cupboards full of dishes. Brackets and latches should make these safe even during an earthquake.

Check for defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections periodically. In a quake these are certain to become fire hazards. Round up weed killers, pesticides, and any other flammable products and store them in a closed and secure cabinet on a bottom shelf to make sure they cause no trouble during an earthquake.

Secure your water heater with strapping right to the wall studs and floor. Water heaters are one of the biggest fire hazards during an earthquake (and if intact a good source of water after the quake). 

Shatter resistant film over windows can prevent life threatening injuries from flying or falling glass shards. 

Learn your property; know where to shut off utilities including Gas, Water & Electricity.

An Earthquake Prepared-ness Kit is a Must in Washington State; it should include at the minimum the following items:

- Warm clothing, sleeping bags/blankets, heaters and other camping gear as desired (your power may be out or your home unsafe). 

- At least 3 gallons of water per person minimum (1 gallon per day for cooking & washing)

- Canned and dehydrated food, don’t forget your can opener

- Essential medications (for your family and pets) and a first aid kit

- Battery powered radio

- Flashlight with plenty of batteries

- Tools (wrench, etc) and instructions to shut off utilities such as gas, water & electricity.

- Sturdy shoes and work gloves

- Sanitation supplies

- Fire extinguisher

Many of these items may already be in your kitchen pantry, your closet or your garage. 

In addition to your house, consider developing smaller emergency kits for your car and your office.  These kits will serve you well in the event of an earthquake or any other related disaster.

Develop a communications plan. If the family is not all at home, how will you get in touch with one another? Local phone lines, cell phones and the internet/email may all be jammed and unavailable. As a fallback designate someone out of the area as a contact (Grandmother, Uncle, etc) that the family can call and leave messages with - sometimes long distance phone service remains available even when local service is down. 

Find a safe place to evacuate to ahead of time. Someplace out in the open is the best, away from a building, trees, telephone and electrical lines. Stay away from overpasses and elevated highways.

Get your pet an ID tag, often during an earthquake animals get aggressive or defensive and run away. Also pets might not be allowed into a shelter so plan ahead and have at least a three-day water supply and dry food for your animals.

For tons more information on Earthquakes (or other emergencies) see READY.GOV, FEMA.GOV or EMD.WA.GOV. After your online research if you still have questions contact your local Emergency Management Officer:

NBK: Tracy Brown (360) 627-4028

NAS WHIDBEY:  Steve Lom-bardo at (360) 259-3337

NAVSTA Everett:MA1 Jack Burch at (425) 304-3139