Planning, prepping are keys to survival
I am 64 years old and was born and raised in Southern California, which translates into a lot of earthquake experience. I was in junior high school when the Sylmar quake hit in February 1971, and that is the most severe earthquake I have ever experienced, at a 6.6 magnitude. I was living away when the Northridge quake came in at 6.7 in January 1994, but I remember talking to family about the mess it caused.
We had to evacuate after the Sylmar quake while the authorities checked out the integrity of the Hansen Dam. We packed up and went to my great-aunt’s house in Eagle Rock for the 24 hours it took to get the all clear. I didn’t have to go to school for two glorious weeks until the building inspectors had a chance to check out the school.
Most earthquakes we have in Southern California are small, often 4 or 5 magnitude, and don’t do much widespread damage. Cracked foundations and some power outages are often about all there is to report. But you only have to live through an earthquake that comes in over 6 one time to take preparedness seriously. At our house, we keep two 7-gallon containers filled with water. Twice a year, I empty them out, clean them and refill them. We also have water anti-contamination pills to add to the water if we need to drink it during month five or six of its storage, just in case.
We keep enough canned and dehydrated food to last us for a week to 10 days, and we’ve got several different can openers. We cycle through and replace those goods over time to make sure the food is unexpired. We keep a spare canister of propane for the grill in addition to the one currently in use, in case the grill becomes our only usable cooking appliance after a serious quake. Of course, we all learned the toilet paper lesson when the pandemic hit, so we keep plenty of extra in the garage.
We own three small battery packs for recharging our phones, and I also have a battery pack in my car designed to provide a jump-start, which can also be used to power phones or laptops, and it has solar recharging capability as well.
What I don’t have yet but plan to get soon is a set of General Mobile Radio Service radios. I want them partly to be able to contact local family members if the cell towers or cell service is affected, but also to be able to contact emergency services should we need them.
The only real worry I have has to do with a necessary evacuation because we have a beloved dog. However, I hear that more and more often emergency shelters are allowing people to bring their pets with them. In addition to copies of some important papers, clothes and extra medication, our bug-out bag contains an extra collar, leash, dog food and treats.
Elizabeth Spring, Oceanside