BEFORE:

 •  Tie down your water heater (see section on utilities in this notebook).
 •  Put latches on your cabinet doors, move heavy mirrors and frames away from your bed.
 •  Keep a flashlight, some sturdy shoes, and an extra pair of glasses near your bed.
 •  Keep an extra pair of prescription or reading glasses in your 72-hr. kit.
 •  Meet with your Group of 10 and get everyone’s out-of-state emergency phone numbers (so all your family members and your Group of 10 have someone reachable by phone to give and receive information to/from about you and your family members in an emergency.  Have everyone in your family learn the out-of-state number.
 •  Take first aid, CPR, and CERT courses.
 •  Work through this notebook systematically and get prepared.
 •  Have at least one good (minimally) 5-lb. metal top ABC fire extinguisher on every floor of your home.
 •  Turn your fire extinguishers upside down every 6 months to keep the powder from caking and hardening.
 •  Have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your home and replace the batteries every 6 months.
 •  Have natural gas or propane detectors near your furnace and water heater or boiler
 •  Store copies of all your important documents (see the last page of the 72-hr. kit list in this notebook) in a fire safe or in a safe place away from your home.
 •  Rotate your storage water yearly.
 •  Make a family emergency plan for how you will evacuate your home and for where you will meet if you are separated or not home during a disaster--consider every possible option.
      -children must know what to do and what to expect from you.
 •  Keep an emergency kit with some comfortable walking shoes and water and a coat at work and/or in your car.
 •  Have lots of plastic sheeting, tarps, staple gun and staples, and duct tape.
 •  Have a flex hose put on your water heater and furnace.
 •  Get some self-charging, plug-in power failure lights.
 •  There are automatic gas shut off valves available (for some $).
 •  Velcro small appliances down.
 •  Get earthquake insurance; check on the quality of your fire insurance.

DURING:

 •  Get out of the kitchen!  Whole fridges as well as all the dishes can go flying across the room.  Go to the safest place in your home -- probably an interior hallway away from doors, windows, and heavy objects.  This is one of the best-framed places in your home.  Sit on the floor and brace yourself with your feet and back against opposite walls.  If you can’t get to an interior hallway, get under a heavy desk or table and hold onto its legs.
 •  If you’re already inside, do NOT run outside.  There is too much danger of falling bricks and debris.  Wait until the quake is over to go outside.
 •  If you’re in your car, pull over and stop -- stay in your car until shaking stops.
 •  Inside a mall, duck into the nearest store
 •  In a theater, don’t run out, get lower than the seat backs and hold on
 • it’s worth doing CPR on someone if you were there and started it during the first 4 minutes of their collapse.  If you weren’t there within the first 4 minutes, it’s not worth it.  Chances are almost 100% that you can’t revive them or revive them to any quality of life.

AFTER:

 • Be prepared for aftershocks.
 • If you suspect damage to wires, appliances, gas, water, or sewage lines (anywhere down line),   DO NOT USE!
 • Leave a note in your abandoned car telling name, phone, address, plans.
 • If you have to evacuate your home, leave a note for other family members.
 • Listen to your radio for information from the Emergency Broadcast System.
 • Gather your family, do whatever you need for their safety, inspect your utilities and turn off if necessary, and take everyone to your Staging Area, noticing damage to other homes along the way.  If turning off the electricity, turn off the main breaker first, then the small breakers.
 • Hang all phones back up as soon as possible (including pay phones), and avoid using phone lines except when absolutely necessary.
 • In buildings, do not use the elevators.
 • At home, do not use fireplaces until the flue or chimney has been checked.
 • Do not stay in buildings or homes with moderate to heavy damage.  Don’t enter homes or buildings with heavy damage to rescue others.
 • propane, kerosene, butane give off mostly CO2==>OK inside, if well ventilated; charcoal and Coleman fuel give off CO==>must be burned outside.
 • a 55 gal. drum of kerosene and a kerosene heater could keep you warm and cook your food for a year.
 • Eat fridge food first, frozen food second, canned and dry food last.