How to prepare for an earthquake
Many of us in L.A. were spared the worst of the Ridgecrest quake. But look around your home and imagine that violent movement under your place, throwing stuff everywhere. Good. Now you’re ready to start earthquake-proofing your home. And most of it can be accomplished with a quick trip to the hardware store. Once the easy projects are done, “you can start to chip away at the bigger, more expensive things,” said Janiele Maffei, chief mitigation officer of the California Earthquake Authority. Here are a few ways to get started:
TVs and bookshelves: These are a couple of items most likely to tip over (and create a cleanup headache, even if they don’t land on your head). Buy furniture straps to unobtrusively secure these to wall studs. Also strap down file cabinets and other top-heavy furniture that can fall and potentially block exits. If you hope to keep books on the shelves, installing a lip along the front edge might keep them from flying off and hurting someone. Another option: Escondido-based QuakeHold makes elastic cord barriers that still allow access.
Kitchen cabinets: Child-safety locks can keep the doors closed but can be a hassle to open normally. Several companies offer more convenient locks that you simply push to open and release a latch. San Diegobased Safe-T-Proof sells cabinet locks that fall into place when shaking starts. The cabinet contents may still shatter during the Big One, but at least breakage will be contained and not underfoot.
Items on shelves: Knickknacks, Grandmother’s china or crystal vases can turn into financial and emotional losses, and dangerous projectiles, according to the Earthquake Alliance. That agency recommends using Velcro, adhesive gel or QuakeHold Museum Wax to affix those items directly to shelves.
Pictures, mirrors and other wall hangings: These can all become projectiles, or shatter and rain glass on your head. Instead of nails or regular picture hooks, use screw hooks or earthquake-specific hangers installed directly into wall studs, the Earthquake Alliance suggests. A little putty on the back corners can help keep the frames from banging and breaking. Hang only soft objects, such as tapestries, above beds.
Wine, liquor, chemicals — and other items that can shatter and spill: Keep these low to the ground in a secured cabinet so they won't fly out or tip over. Wine Spectator magazine says tipping up the necks of bottles in a rack even five degrees will help keep them from shaking out of place.
The water heater: Once the ground under it starts moving, a tall, heavy water heater can topple, breaking the water and natural gas lines running to it. Also, that tank holds 30 to 50 gallons of fresh water — vital, if a quake at the San Andreas fault severs the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Be sure to use heavy-duty straps designed for the job to secure the top and bottom. And if your water heater, stove and other appliances aren’t hooked to the gas lines using flexible connectors — they look like bendy straws — consider calling a plumber to swap those in.
The unexpected: The Earthquake Country Alliance checklist also mentions hazards that might not occur to people, such as hanging plants too close to windows, where they could swing and break the glass.
Unbraced home: Is your home bolted to its foundation? If not, the job averages $5,000 in Southern California yet can avert damage costs into the six figures, or even a home’s outright destruction if it slides off its footings. “If you have a crawl space, you really need to get under there and take a look. If it’s a pre-1940s house, you absolutely have to take a look,” said Maffei, who is also executive director of the California Residential Mitigation Program, created jointly by the Earthquake Authority and the governor's office, to help people brace their homes. (The CRMP offers grants up to $3,000 to offset the cost of securing homes, although those are all claimed for this year.)
A toppling fireplace? If you have a brick or masonry chimney, those are “the most vulnerable components of conventionally constructed wood-framed homes,” according to the Structural Engineers Association of California. Also, falling bricks can pummel bystanders — indoors and out — as well as property.
Engineers may debate whether reinforcement can help, but many say the safest option is a factory-made metal chimney, enclosed in veneer to simulate brick, for the traditional look. Maffei’s recommendation? Evaluate the potential hazard: “If it pulled away from the wall and fell down, what could it hit?”