Earthquakes can happen when you least expect it. When you live somewhere that is known to have earthquakes, even rarely, you should be prepared. Here are 5 things that you can do to prepare yourself, and your home, for an earthquake.
Attach any bookshelves to the walls with screws
Depending on the strength of the earthquake, your shelves and cabinets might fall over and everything on it could fall and break. The best way to prevent this from happening is to attach anything that might fall over to a wall. This is how you can prevent any potential danger and clean up once the earthquake is over.
Put locks on any drawers that could fly open
If you don’t want to attach cabinets and shelves to the walls, or even if you already have, then you can add locks to the drawers to prevent any further problems. When an earthquake hits, things are going to rock and shake. You can prevent drawers from flying open by putting child locks on them.
Make sure that your ceiling lights are secure
If you have any ceiling lights that hang low, or are hanging at all, you need to make sure that they are secure and in place. This also goes for ceiling fans. You want to make sure that the part holding the lights and fans in are secure and not wobbling. If they are a little loose, get some tools and tighten up the center so if an earthquake hits, you don’t have to worry about glass and fan blades falling down onto you or your things.
Consider taping up the windows
If you live in an area where earthquakes are very common, you can get clear tape and put it on the windows so that if an earthquake were to hit, the window will stay still and won’t crack under the shaking pressure of the earthquake. This is a method a lot of people use for strong storms too, so if you don’t necessarily live in an earthquake zone but you do live in an active storm zone, then you can still use this tip.
Make sure the foundation of your home is secure
A problem people often have when an earthquake hits is that their homes will come off of the foundation. You can avoid this problem by placing steel panels on the house to attach it to the foundation. This will give it more of a protective layer against storms damage, strong winds, and earthquakes. This is a job that you can do alone, but there are also places that you can call that will help you install these panels to your home.
Being in an earthquake can be extremely stressful and very scary, but if you are prepared for it and you know how to handle the situation, then you will have almost nothing to worry about. These tips are the best things that you can do to make sure that you are prepared for the next earthquake. You can also look at Harbor. The specialize in being prepared and is the best thing that you can be when it comes to situations such as this one. As long as you follow these tips, you can stay one step ahead of the next potential disaster.
