Top 10 tips for surviving an earthquake

Did you know that as of today December 19th 2013

There have been:

• 67 earthquakes today
• 628 earthquakes in the past 7 days
• 2,776 earthquakes in the past month
• 21,636 earthquakes in the past year

It seems that seismic activity is on the rise and earthquakes over the years have been getting higher in magnitude. That is why I wanted to create this hub, I wanted to educate myself more and decided to help others as well. The Klamath Falls, Oregon 7.0 quake shook me up pretty good, it felt like a thousand buffalo were tromping through my house! Bookcases were toppled over, clothes closet hangers fell down, dishes broken and it was a mess to clean up but I was thankful I survived and didn't get injured.

1. Grab a cushion or something to protect your head even a bike helmet helps.
2. Get out of a building by the stairs and do not take the elevator, elevators stop in mid levels sometimes.
3. Turn off the stove and get somewhere safe, under the table.
4. Open the door and windows for an escape, sometimes quakes can warp doors so you cannot get out, and get away from anything that can fall on you. Store your collectibles not on the tops of book shelves and stay away from book shelves. or store shelves
5. If you are in a car get to the side of the road and turn on your radio for more information.
6. Get flashlights and emergency preparedness backpack ready with MRE's and a wind up radio.
7. Be prepared for aftershocks and power outages, for 24 hours to 3 days. Always have at least 5 gallons of water for emergencies.
8. Remain calm , help others if you can. Sometimes others panic and do not know what to do, if you can tell others to remain calm so we can get through this without injuries to others.
9. Earthquakes sometimes happen at night, always have a flashlight by the bed. Be careful of broken glass, keep tennis shoes handy or in your emergency backpack.
10. If you are outside get away from power lines and trees. Get in the open, get on the ground and cover your head.

Bonus tip: Do not use candles in an earthquake as it can cause fire if they topple over from the shaking.

After an earthquake, assess the situation, help others, call emergency vehicles if needed, sometimes phone lines can get jammed, so have someone near to keep trying to get through, while you administer first aid. Find emergency text number and try texting EMT's . If its life or death be sure to notify EMT's, so they can put your loved one at the top of the pick up list! If you think you can make it to the emergency room before you can get your call through, or find out the estimated ambulance pick -up time, then by all means take the chance of getting your loved one to the ER. Sometimes if its a big quake there will be many people in need of the ER, the sooner the better if you can get in there. This is probably only in the case of a major quake with lots of casualties, but it can, and has happened.

If we plan ahead for emergencies then we don't have to worry so much, less worry is a good thing. Aftershocks can happen, you want to be ready for those as well. Earthquakes do tend to happen in clusters. "The Ring of fire" is responsible for 80 percent of the worlds earthquakes. Part of this is the pacific plate which has over 450 volcanoes. I remember when Mt. St Helen's blew I lived in Klamath Falls and the ash came down to there from Washington. When the S.P. trains came through town they all had about 3 inches of ash on cars coming from the north. This is real time stuff happening and it can happen again, we need to be prepared. I recommend purchasing some masks too, so you can breathe with out worrying about the ash getting in your lungs. Most earthquakes directly under a volcano are caused by the movement of the magma.