How to prepare for an earthquake

A friend called me last weekend to ask if I was ready for the “big one” — you know, the 7.2 earthquake that is expected to hit Metro Manila any moment and could kill up to 35,000 people? She asked if I had a grab bag, the survival kit everyone is talking about, with a whistle, flashlight, water, meds and other basic necessities, in case the quake hits at any time of day or night. Did I have food, water, candles, and batteries stored at home? Is everyone at home quake-ready? Have I checked the structural integrity of my rented house? Do we have an evacuation plan? But then, she added, sounding tired and miserable, you don’t live on the fault line. You will probably be safer.

I don’t blame my friend for worrying and I admire her for her diligence. But the trouble with an earthquake is no matter how ready you are, when it actually comes, you won’t see it coming. When a big storm is imminent or a volcano is erupting, you can plan to get out of harm’s way. Those who can afford to check in at hotels, or go to some safe spot to watch nature’s fury unfold. At the other end of the spectrum, the poorest and most vulnerable simply wrap up their belongings, pick up their children and go to the nearest evacuation center. But an earthquake is different. It hits us where we are. It is the great equalizer.

So, how ready is ready? Despite the loud and persistent alarms from the authorities, I haven’t been able to wrap my head around the dire predictions of a devastated Metro Manila. The recent destruction of Nepal was a wakeup call, but rather than hoarding food and water, medicines, feminine napkins and tents in anticipation of the same thing happening here, my instinct is to send funds and lifesaving items to Nepal to help those who are suffering from that quake.

Canned goods and bottled water get stale and instant noodles get old waiting to be used in the wake of a quake that may not come soon enough, but in Nepal, the people need the food and water and other basic supplies now.

There are other hungry and vulnerable groups that could use the contents of our grab bags right now. The native Rohingya of Burma have chosen to be trafficked to escape the intolerable poverty, hunger and discrimination in their homeland. And war-weary Syrians and Iraqis continue to risk their lives by crossing the seas on rickety boats to escape the endless strife in their towns and cities.

How ready is ready? Here at home, I think of the informal settlers who live outside our gated communities and provide the services we need — they are our

kasambahay, laundry women, manicurists, gardeners, carpenters, handymen, masseuses and folk healers. As we go about filling our grab bags with things we can’t live without, I think about what they could possibly put in theirs. Many of them are beneficiaries of the government’s 4Ps program for the very poor. Can they afford to set aside food and other supplies to prepare for something that is still only a possibility, when there is a crying need for those very goods today?

I know the threat of a major quake is real and I should start imagining the worstcase scenario and be very afraid. Unlike the Y2K scare at the turn of the century, what we know about earthquakes is science-based. But I find it difficult to live in the realm of possibilities, no matter how strong. I cannot plan my life around a catastrophe that may or may not come today, tomorrow, next week or 50 years from now. While we need to be alert and reasonably ready, life must go on.

I write as one who spent the last two decades working for something that I now realize will probably not happen in my lifetime. I have worked in and out of the country’s peace process through four presidencies, putting my personal wants and needs on hold as I planned and hoped and prayed that the government and the Communist Party would reach a state of mutual generosity and enlightenment and come to a final peace agreement that will end the longest insurgency in Asia and bring harmony into the lives of our people. I have grown old wishing for the moon, my hopes dashed over and over again. This may come a little late but from here on, I intend to live in the moment. While I will never abandon the cause, peace will come when it comes.

There is a saying that a watched pot does not boil. So it is with certain inevitabilities like earthquakes and death. While we must be watchful, opt for life and plan for survival, in reality, there is only so much we can do.

In the meantime, life must go on.

So, how ready is ready? Despite the loud and persistent alarms from the authorities, I haven’t been able to wrap my head around the dire predictions of a devastated Metro Manila.