Earthquake Preparedness Guide

Prepare your home and family for earthquakes: drop-cover-hold drills, securing heavy items, and post-quake survival supplies.

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Earthquake preparedness essentials

Securing your home

Bolt tall furniture, water heaters, and bookshelves to wall studs to prevent them from toppling and blocking exits. Install latches on cabinet doors so glassware does not spill across the floor during shaking. Identify a "safe spot" in every room, ideally against an interior wall and away from windows, where household members can drop, take cover, and hold on. Practice the drill twice a year so it is automatic.

The first sixty seconds

If you are indoors, drop to your hands and knees, take cover under a sturdy desk or table, and hold on until shaking stops. If you are in bed, stay there and protect your head and neck with a pillow. If you are outdoors, move into the open and away from buildings, trees, and power lines. Driving? Pull over, set the parking brake, and stay inside the vehicle until shaking ends.

After the shaking

Expect aftershocks, often for days. Inspect for gas leaks before flipping any electrical switch; if you smell gas, leave immediately and call from outside. Refill drinking water containers from any working tap because municipal pressure may fall. Account for every household member, then check on neighbours, especially elderly ones living alone.

About the EmergencyKit.app checklist

How we built it

EmergencyKit.app combines the official emergency-kit recommendations published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Red Cross, USA.gov's Ready.gov campaign, and the German Federal Office of Civil Protection (BBK) and Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB). Each item on the checklist is tagged with the organisations that recommend it so you can see at a glance how well-supported it is.

The 20% body-weight rule

A go-bag should weigh no more than roughly 20% of the carrier's body weight. Above that threshold, evacuating on foot becomes painful, slow, and risky for older or smaller adults and for children. The weight checker on the homepage estimates your kit's total weight from the items you select and warns you when you cross the limit, so you can swap heavier items for lighter alternatives before you actually need to leave.

Three days, then more

The baseline kit covers a 72-hour window because that is how long it typically takes public services to restore basic supplies after a major disaster. Households in high-risk regions for hurricanes, wildfires, or earthquakes should plan for at least two weeks of food, water, and prescription medication on top of the baseline kit.