How To Survive An Earthquake

We had a 6.8 magnitude earthquake while I was out with the kids yesterday afternoon. Talk about a fright!

Although I was born and raised in California, where earthquake drills in elementary school were about as frequent as a fire drill, I managed to go the first 18 years of my life without actually experiencing a real earthquake. It wasn't until the move to Hawaii, our second duty station, that I felt anything at all resembling an earthquake. And even then it was such a small tremor that we just assumed it was a plane flying overhead.

Shortly after moving to Japan, where 20% of the worlds strongest earthquakes occur, we experienced our very first no doubt about it earthquake. It woke us from our sleep. Brian, possibly still half asleep, ran down the wobbling stairs. His first concern was a 2 year old Bella, who could frequently be found on the couch with a bag of grapes watching Saved by the Bell marathons in the middle of the night. Our kids were both in their beds this time. Bella was certainly shaken up, but we calmed her down and she went back to sleep almost immediately.

A while after that earthquake, "mainland" Japan was hit with 2 more that were rather large and caused a considerable amount of damage. We live on the island of Okinawa, so we were only dealing with tsunami warnings (and calming down family riddled with concern for us after media sensationalism).

Things have been somewhat calm here. There was a huge typhoon that flooded my living room, put holes in my ceiling, and shut down my air conditioner during one of Brian's last TDYs. Other than that, calm. I was sort of expecting to sleep through another earthquake soon. But I was awake and out in public.

I recently switched Bella from her Monday ballet class to a ballet/tap class on Tuesdays, so yesterday was her first day in the new class.

I have such cute kids!!

After class I always take the kids to the BX food court so we can chow down on Subway for lunch. After lunch, we usually walk around the BX for a bit to burn off more energy before quiet time. I grabbed a few things to prepare for our trip to the Philippines (we leave soon....eeek! Expect a post in the very near future on travel with 3 kids under 5). I had to go to the baby aisle to buy diapers, but on the way we got distracted by the board games. I thought it was about time I bought a new game to play with Bella. I was in the process of deciding between "Cootie" or "Pretty Pretty Princess" when all of a sudden there was a loud rumble and all the shelves started shaking. I stopped what I was doing and stared around, kind of not sure of what to do at that point. It didn't last long, and everyone started looking at each other and smiling with nervous-laughter. Then again, another rumble and more shaking. A Japanese lady who was restocking toys looked at me and yelled "No! It's too big!" When the locals are concerned, you get even more concerned. At that point I walked the kids out to the middle of the store where there were no shelves or giant boxes of legos to crash on top of us.

I decided to keep walking around the BX for a while because if we were going to be hit by anymore earthquakes that day, I figured the stability of the BX was probably more reliable than our base housing. Once I was fairly certain the roads weren't going to split open, I went ahead and checked out and drove home. Once there I made sure the pets were fine, the picture frames were all still hanging on the wall, and that the TV was secure (our tv stand is thiiiiiis close to falling apart, and I keep saying one more earthquake will do it). The kids took their naps, and all was well with our little part of the world.

So I figure now is a great time to review earthquake safety tips! The change of duty stations also brings about a change in natural disasters you are likely to experience, so if you ever find yourself stationed in Japan (or California) here are some ways you can keep safe during an earthquake:

• If you are indoors, stay there. Quickly move to a safe location in the room such as under a strong desk, a strong table, or along an interior wall. The goal is to protect yourself from falling objects and be located near the structural strong points of the room. Avoid taking cover near windows, large mirrors, hanging objects, heavy furniture, heavy appliances or fireplaces.
• If you are cooking, turn off the stove and take cover.
• If you are outdoors, move to an open area where falling objects are unlikely to strike you. Move away from buildings, powerlines and trees.
• If you are driving, slow down smoothly and stop on the side of the road. Avoid stopping on or under bridges and overpasses, or under power lines, trees and large signs. Stay in your car.

Geology.com has more tips on what to do before and after an earthquake as well.

Make sure to always keep your emergency kits stocked with supplies, have a stash of non-perishable food and water, and review safety precautions for natural disasters in your area!