My Los Angeles friend Bonnie wrote an article on the recent 5.4 magnitude earthquake (11:42 AM, July 29, 2008 - government info here) felt here in the mountains. I was in San Diego at the time and the there house shook, the windows rattled, etc. I have friends all over southern CA who were Twittering about feeling the quake. Facebook friends were discussing the quake. Although it wasn’t a large event and no one was hurt as far as I heard, there is still no excuse to not have an emergency earthquake plan.

While Bonnie’s article discusses plans for untimely deaths (funeral, cremation, transfer of death accounts), I got to thinking about earthquake preparedness.

We have a huge fire danger here, just as all of southern California. Most of us have fire evacuation plans but an earthquake plan is almost entirely different.

There are no evacuations for earthquakes - mainly you hold on and hang out. Here are some bare bones basics to get you started:

• During the earthquake - get under an archway, desk or staircase if there’s time and wait it out. Then wait a bit longer: there might be aftershocks.
• Have some water set aside in case of water line disruption. Fill used milk gallon jugs with fresh tap water in which you’ve added a capful of plain bleach. Duct tape the top shut and stack water jugs in a closet, in your build-up or utility room. Plan for enough water to last for three days. That’s three gallons per person per day.
• Make an emergency kit - flashlights, batteries, camp stove (with pots and fuel), can opener, crank powered flashlights, lanterns with lantern non-smoking fuel (they carry this at Ace in downtown Crestline), plenty of protein and food bars (at Goodwins in Crestline, Stater Brothers in Arrowhead and Rite Aid in Blue Jay), perhaps several freezer-quart bags of calorie-heavy trail mix stored in a cooler, a first aid kit, a lighter/matches, knife, warm clothes, emergency blankets and a hatchet. You can also keep copies of your important and irreplaceable documents in this kit (medical info, financial documents, ID, passport and credit card copies). Put everything in a water tight plastic bin that you can grab and go with in case you need to leave town.
• Car readiness - keep your fuel tanks filled no matter how expensive gas gets. Keep a shovel, tow rope, jumper cables and tire chains in your car at all times. Make sure you have a decent car battery and sound brakes.

Helpful San Bernardino Area Earthquake & Emergency Preparedness Links:

Essential Items for the Family in Case of Earthquake

Make Your Own Earthquake Preparedness Kit (San Fran Chronicle)

Emergency Evacuation Routes - San Bernardino Mountain Areas

San Bernardino Emergency Pet Preparedness, General (PDF)

San Bernardino Emergency Pet Preparedness, Kit (PDF)

USGS Government website on Earthquake FAQ

Stumble it!