Are You Ready for the Big One?

My earthquake preparedness knowledge barely extends past heading for the nearest doorway when the ground starts shaking. How humbling to hear Maria Sabol of the Orange County Fire Authority tell me that I even had that wrong.

“We used to teach standing in doorways,” she said. “But you can get your fingers mashed in slamming doors during aftershocks. Now we say head to a wall corner and curl up with your head covered.”

Last week’s small quake that hit central Orange County was actually timely. Nationwide, April is Earthquake Preparedness Month. Which means fire and emergency authorities are pushing to get us to think more about being ready for the big one.

My guess is most of us are far below the standards they’re setting. For example, how many of you have an earthquake kit--and by your bed? Do you have three of them?

“We recommend one for your house, another for your car and one where you work,” said Sabol, the Fire Authority’s education specialist.

She recommends making them from rubberized trash cans you can buy cheaply. Besides fresh water, the kit should contain any medications you take, utensils, nonperishable canned foods, a nonelectric can opener, first aid kit, a flashlight, some cash, a blanket and sleeping bag, and a battery-powered radio, for listening to the emergency alert system.

Pack enough to last a minimum of 72 hours.

Other recommendations from the experts: Line overhead bookshelves with thin rope to protect from books falling on your head, never sleep with anything above you, and place Velcro or putty on valuable items, such as porcelain dishes or lamps, to keep them from falling when the earth shakes. (It’s called museum putty, and you can buy it at most crafts stores.)

More essentials: Double-check to make sure there is a strap around your water heater, and make sure you know how to turn off the gas where you live.

But mostly, Sabol emphasizes in presentations what to do during the earthquake:

“We say duck, cover and hold,” she said. “That means hold on to something sturdy if you can.”

The problem with the old doorway theory, she said, is that too many people are running through the house, meaning too many chances for getting hurt.

“Don’t worry about everybody getting together in one place until the ground stops shaking,” she said. “Then you can take a head count.”

OK, great ideas. But do people really make all these preparations?

Yes, insists Denita Calkins, a field officer for the Orange County branch of the state’s Office of Emergency Services.

“There are people who keep all three earthquake kits we recommend, and take all the other home precautions,” she said.

She adds that if we don’t take this seriously, we should:

“It’s life in California. We don’t know when a big one will happen, but we know it will.”

For more information, visit the state emergency office’s Web site at https://www.oes.ca.gov. It’s loaded with earthquake ideas.

By the way, here’s a great tip I got from both Sabol and the state Web site: Have everybody in the family agree ahead of time on an out-of-state phone number to call, to let each other know you are safe.

“Sometimes you can’t call across town, but you can call out of state,” Sabol said.

It works. My niece found herself in the heart of the San Francisco earthquake 10 years ago. She and her husband, across town, could communicate to each other only through family--in Indiana.