Before: Be sure you’re Ride the Quake ready!

1. Create your emergency kit View Kit Ideas Here
2. Create a evacuation plan for your entire household, including our four-legged friends
3. Stay up to date and informed on your communities response plan
4. Have a plan of how to keep in touch with your loved ones if you are separated
5. Download the Red Cross Emergency App for your phone

During: Staying Safe Indoors

• DROP, COVER and HOLD ON!
• Move as little as possible - most injuries during earthquakes occur because of people moving around, falling and suffering sprains, fractures and head injuries.
• Try to protect your head and torso.
• If you are in bed, stay there, curl up and hold on, and cover your head.
• Stay indoors until the shaking stops and you are sure it is safe to exit.
• If you must leave a building after the shaking stops, use stairs rather than an elevator in case of aftershocks, power outages or other damage.
• Be aware that smoke alarms and sprinkler systems frequently go off in buildings during an earthquake, even if there is no fire.
• If you smell gas, get out of the house and move as far away as possible.
• Before you leave any building check to make sure that there is no debris from the building that could fall on you.

After: How Can You Stay Safe After an Earthquake?

If you do nothing else:

• If away from home, return only when authorities say it is safe to do so.
• Check yourself for injuries and get first aid, if necessary, before helping injured or trapped persons.
• After an earthquake, the disaster may continue. Expect and prepare for potential aftershocks, landslides or even a tsunami if you live on a coast.
• Each time you feel an aftershock, DROP, COVER and HOLD ON. Aftershocks frequently occur minutes, days, weeks and even months following an earthquake.
• Look for and extinguish small fires. Fire is the most common hazard after an earthquake.