Notes from the EPIcenter: The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety

Post by Lauren Schuman, Senior Manager of Operations at Kidspace Children’s Museum

There have been a number of earthquakes in San Bernardino County over the last few days. If you are anything like me, you might find yourself saying, “Yeah, I should get a kit together or something….” and then move on to the next thing in your life, like getting dinner on the table or throwing in that next load of laundry. Although part of my job is to promote earthquake preparedness, I admit that it is very difficult to get prepared for something which might not happen.

I also think it is easy to get overwhelmed by the large task of PREPARING. Where to begin? How do I formulate an earthquake plan when I don’t even really know what that means? It is much easier to do nothing at all.

Fortunately, there is a solution! The Earthquake County Alliance has developed 7 steps you can take to keep yourself and your family safe during and after an earthquake. Four steps are things you can do now to prepare, and the last three are things to do during and after the quake. Over the next several months, I will work through these seven steps myself with the goal of becoming more prepared. Follow my posts to learn what can be done for each step, and how I am progressing with my plan for earthquake safety. I hope as you follow, you will be able to complete the steps as well!

Next month: Step One- Identify potential hazards in your home and begin to fix them. We will see how far I get in convincing my fiancé that strapping the TV to the stand is a great idea, and that it won’t take away from the beauty of the flat screen.