My Wet Coast Life

With the recent massive quakes hitting Haiti and repetitively battering Chile, a couple decent shakers for Japan and South Pacific, we have been lucky to dodge the bullet in the Pacific Northwest. And that appears like it is going to change...

Around 1 week ago, i wrote about earthquakes and the frequency that they are occurring, how the Northwest so far has dodged the bullet and if British Columbia is in line for the next big one. In the last couple days, we have had two 4+ magnitude quakes of the coast of Oregon and now this morning, Los Angeles gets hit with a 4.4 magnitude quake. Luckily, no reports of damage or injuries have been reported.

Follow up:

Now for a good majority of the people i speak with, they are lax in being prepared and do not have kits or a clue of what to do when "it" happens. I can only guess they either assume it will never happen here in there life time (keep dreaming) or someone else is gonna bail them out when it happens. I hope that for most people, they are not banking on the second option or they will find out quickly that the assumption may/will cost someone's life...

Now for the reality check.

When a large disaster occurs such as an earthquake, emergency personal will be swamped. It's a given. They will need to deal with possibly helping their own before they can even start to assist others and that is assuming they haven't taken too much damage and/or injuries themselves. Once they have themselves sorted, they will be dealing with buildings/areas with the greatest effect such as public buildings and offices depending on the time when the quake strikes. The L.A. quake was at 4am when everyone is sleeping. Advantage of it striking then is not too many people are congregated in one place like an office building or sports arena. Drawback is people are spread out in there homes, sleeping and would be caught off guard when it strikes.

Now the responsibility to be prepared is for everyone. Don't expect your neighbor, co-worker or emergency personal to be bailing you out. They have there own priorities to deal with first and you being prepared reduces the burden on all, especially with the already tapped emergency workers. Now if you cannot be bothered to take some preventative, PRO-ACTIVE not reactive measures, you will decrease your odds for survival. If you are prepared, you allow other helpers/volunteers to assist the injured and to focus on the less prepared or less fortunate. Now do you want to be one of those less prepared, less fortunate, not in my backyard, close minded peeps? I hope not for both mine and your safety.....

Now enough with that, lets get on to some easy things you can do to prepare. There are many sites out there with tips and tricks to be prepared. And that is the key word, PREPARED.

Hope for the best; Expect the worst

Let start off with the basic survival kit. They say you want to have 72 hours of food, water and medication. Now if you saw the news on any of these recent earthquakes or quakes in the past, after 72 hours, there is still destruction and relief supplies are usually still trickling in due to damaged infrastructure like roads, airports and bridges. Now in the lower mainland, we have a lot of bridges and if they collapse, a lot of people are now stuck (unless you have a boat). And last time i checked, there have been no bridges magically built in 72 hours except for the army engineers. They do have the skills to setup temporary bridges, etc but they need to get in the area first and have the required equipment to span the area they need to cross. This all takes time.

Now do you still think 72 hours or 3 days is enough? I personally don't think so. I would recommend at least a week if possible. The goal of being prepared is to try and make yourself as independent as possible so emergency personal have one less person and/or family to deal with and depending on the severity and location of the quake, it could be awhile. Haiti and Chile are still recovering and it has been a couple weeks or more.

Now for things to have in you kit, I am not going to repeat them here and it comes down to common sense and what suits your needs. You can visit Provincial Emergency Programs website or Google it to find out how to make your own kit. Somethings to keep in mind are first aid kits, food, water, clothing and shelter. The basics of survival. You also want to be aware of expiry dates and if you already have a kit (good job), check it every so often to ensure nothing is spoiled and if that expiry date is coming up, replace it with fresh supplies and use up the existing supplies before they expire. Also, keep in mind dietary needs as everyone is different. If you have medical conditions, ensure people around you are aware of your condition and if you need any special medication and how to administer it. Also, water is the key to survival, you can last weeks without food but only days without water. Storing water takes up a lot of space so learn about alternatives. Options can include water purification devices and pills. You can also utilize household items like your hot water tank and toilets for water to be used for drinking, cooking, etc... Now the location of the kits can vary. If you have a house, try and leave it in a shed outside or close to an exit. Remember, if your house collapses, do you want to try and dig out your kit if it survived? Now if you live in an apartment, check with your building manager for options. One thing i have seen many times is using an garbage can on wheels. They hold a lot, they can be sealed and if on wheels, can assist in moving the kit. Just some suggestions to get the wheels grinding...you may come up with better ideas and if you do, share them as knowledge is power.

Earthquakes can strike at anytime and you could be at home, at work or out and about. Make sure you have a basic kit at work and check with your employer as to what steps and measures they have for earthquake preparedness. Also, if you have a car, keep some basic supplies in your trunk such as food, some water and a change of clothes. It doesn't have to be new, just a spare for just in case. Also, get familiar with your area's earthquake preparedness. Learn where reception centers will be created and plan with family (and friends) meeting spots and arrange an out of town contact. This way, they will be aware of where all family members are as well as if one is at work and one at home, you know where you are going to meet up. Do not depend solely on technology such as cell phones. There is no guarantee cell towers will be functioning plus the systems would most likely be overloaded due to the influx of calls to both friends and family as well as emergency personal.

If you want to find out more about earthquakes occurring in your area, you can visit Natural Resources Canada Earthquake Index or to see what is occurring in the world in near real time, visit Iris Seismic Monitor.

In the end, the responsibility is up to you. If you want more info and/or experience, go volunteer with your local emergency programs. They have positions for all ages and skill sets and every bit helps when a disaster occurs. Ask yourself, do you want to be informed and know what is happening and what steps you can do to mitigate the issue or will you sit on your ass, twiddling your thumbs hoping for someone else to help you out?

Have you ensured you and your family are protected and can survive a disaster, not just an earthquake but other disasters that can occur in your area? Do you have enough supplies ready if an earthquake hits today? tomorrow? next month? next year?

Just a thought to help save you and your family....