Earthquake Safety Day

https://www.shakeout.org/index.html


Good morning all,

International Shakeout Day is 17 October here.

Above links tells of this event to practice earthquake safety.

The links says other countries also can participate. Links are provided.

This event is good for the kids, newbies and as a reminder for the "Old Guard".

 

Making people more aware, and offering some remedies is a good thing. Everyone should be aware of the natural disasters you may face wherever you are. Who knows when your travels may take you into an area where you may encounter something completely foreign to you?

Having some knowledge just might save your life.

 

Question, in the US what is the typical drill for high rise occupant in the event of an earthquake? Is there any mandatory drill (building evacuation for example). Is there any disaster preparedness program by the local gov't (municipal gov't)?

 

I am thankful that is one thing that I don't have to worry about too much. We are geologically stable where I live. We have plenty of natural disaster issues, hurricanes, Tornadoes and some times every 50 years or so a drought that leads to fires but all of these can be foreseen. By the time a hurricane hits you have had at least a couple of weeks warning and even tornadoes don't just suddenly pop up out of nowhere.

I used to fly out to LA for a week a couple of times a year and I was always a little on edge expecting things to start shaking. Whenever I was going out there I shipped a personal care package out a week before. It had my knives and lightweight bugout bag and some tools in it along with some heavier work type clothes. I just feel naked without my knives and survival things. y smallest bag is a small fanny pack and with it, I can cover the food, water and shelter issues.

To me, earthquakes are the worst except for volcanic disasters because there is very little that you can do to avoid them if you live where that is a possibility. We have floods here...I intentionally bought a place on the top of a hill and am 75 feet above the river here. I keep the land around my place clear of the brush so I have a fire break. I don't drive in floodwaters. What really CAN you do to avoid an earthquake except move away and just like I didn't run from Hurricanes I doubt that I would run away from a place where I might experience earthquake...but I'm glad that I don't have that to worry about.

 

Good morning Varuna,

The "typical drill" for high-rise buildings is non-existent here.

Mandatory drills are determined by the states' political subdivisions such as the cities and counties. In practical terms, these drills do not exist.

The state of Washington (Pacific northwest; Seattle is big city) has statewide mandatory school earthquake drills but not high-rise residential buildings as of now.

Yes, many disaster preparedness programs, such as the one I posted here to start this thread. These programs are now numerous and run by the Federal agencies all the way down to the local rural county. From my experience of over 50 years working in the emergency management field, these programs do little. If the kids are not taught this material in school and the after school activities such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, there will be no viable preparations for emergencies, let along disasters.

I attended a regional FEMA seminar on evacuating the disabled from high-rise buildings. We have much to do to rectify the situation.

 

Yes indeed, the main concern with earthquake is you can't see it coming and the worse of all even if you have your supplies there is big chance you can't accessing them because they are buried under rubble or worse can't be found.

Here is an example how such situation, in this case strong earthquake trigger soil liquefaction and tsunami



Finding all the burred victim has become nearly impossible

 

I have never participated in any type of earthquake drill, and I don't believe there are any procedures in place for high rise buildings I am aware of. I have worked in high rise buildings, and earthquakes were never given a thought. I would expect the State and Local Governments treat an earthquake like any other natural disaster.

Some of the things we have done to better prepare our house would be to anchor the water heater, so it can't shake loose and rupture a gas line. We can turn off the gas externally with a large crescent wrench. We have supplies stored on all three levels of our house, and what is stored in the garage is on an exterior wall, so if everything collapses we know where to start looking, and in theory, it will be easier to find, and access. We don't have anything heavy, large pictures or mirrors, hanging over any beds, or places where people would sit. We do carry earthquake insurance on our home.

We have been through several earthquakes, but all have been in the 4-5 range. I think the largest was a 5.5. They are very infrequent, and we really don't even think about it. I worry more about tornados than I do about earthquakes.

 

Why not use more permanent cut-off valve so you don't need to look out for wrench? During any high stress situation most people (including myself) tend to make error be that mentally or mechanically.

 

Just read this

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...g-system-it-calls-best-in-world-idUSKBN1WW2WY

I was wondering as why they told the public to seek shelter rather than evacuating out of the building into the nearest open space. If I were hit by an earthquake my top priority is to get out of any structure and if that is not possible then I make my way to the roof top.

 

Good morning Varuna,

Much doctrine is not standard / standardized.

Some agencies preach to stay inside where you are because outside the structure could be flying debris, falling objects from rooftops, etc.

Here, it's taught to immediately drop to the floor if inside a structure.

My comment to above: As one gets older and those with pre-existing infirmities eg a football injury, a war wound, .. immediately getting up from under a table is not easy - nor fast. One's situation is still dangerous because of the rapidly changing matters.

The US has a large retired population. The new batch of managers and political leaders are young and products of the dumbed-down generation. This is reflected in our preparedness efforts.

......

As an aside, also not standardized is SOLAS and our USCG safety regs. I've also run into this non-standardization with UN HAZMAT regs and US DOT HAZMAT regs. Add the ICAO/IATA compliance matters and one gets busy.

 

If you can walk, it's not that bad of a quake. The roof will be moving more than the floor.

I have experienced two 7+ quakes in the last 4 years. The last one cost me $3,000 to repair the driveway, some broken crystal, and a few odds and ends. Mostly it was cleanup and pickup. I got off easy. Yesterday it was only a 4.8. The thing on the small ones like yesterday is you are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The trick is to be prepared. Much of that is covered by our building codes like anchoring the house to the foundation and larger items, like the water heater to the house. When I installed my wire shelving I anchored it to every stud for the top 3 or 4 shelves with long screws and fender washers. Railings on the shelves kept most things off the floor. The china cabinet is attached to a stud with a short safety strap. That kept the cabinet upright but didn't keep the doors closed. Magnetic child locks should help, I'll report after the next one.

The direction of the quake matters. The first 7.1 was from a different location (direction) and caused fewer problems than the closer 7.0 where I found out that the builder didn't screw down the shelves in the closets.

The biggest issue is keeping your cool. This keeps others around you calmer, not calm perhaps, but if you are outwardly cool they will react less severely. A 7.0 is a real E-Ticket ride, sit back and enjoy the rush. As long as the ceiling doesn't fall nothing else matters, if it does there's nothing you can do at that point anyway.

 

I keep reading this about anchoring water heater. I still don't understand how does the water heater there typically build into the house structure? Where I live, water heater is either solar powered (rooftop) or electric (wall mounted) and only connected to the house in wall piping.

That depend a lot in big IF (if the ceiling doesn't fall on you), I preferred to take my chance outside at open space (crawling if I have to) and away from any parked vehicles too

BTW what is the typical intensity (MMI scale) of the earthquakes at your area? A 7+ Richter scale magnitude deep earthquake isn't the same as similar magnitude that happen at shallow depth.

 

Varuna: I will only speak for myself, but I think a lot of others in this country have similar situations. Most water heaters here are tall cylindrical tanks. They are connected to a water line, and in my case, a gas line. The water heater usually contains 30, 40, or 50 gallons of water, so it can be quite heavy. If it shakes along the floor, and breaks free from the gas and water lines you could have a potentially life threatening situation with gas leaking into the house. It is always recommended to anchor them so they can shake, but not move and break free from the plumbing and piping. Mine is in the basement. Others may have them in a utility closet.They are usually 12"-18" in diameter, and 5'-6' tall. Hope this helps.

 

Ok got it I began to understand the problem . You know even 30 US gallon is a lot of hot water . My wall mounted water heater only has 10 liter / 2.6 US gallon of hot water with temperature around 70°C / 158°F.

If earthquake is a concern, why not consider using electric water heater with less capacity?

 

What Morgan said. My water heater holds 80 gallons and is natural gas. There is an explosion hazard with natural gas. But there is a fire hazard with gas, electric, or oil. Even without a fire the option is to go along with your day as usual or deal with the flooding and reinstall, or potentially replace, your heater.

 

With such large capacity I can see the reasoning for such building code and also the need for having relief valve piping it outside