Disaster Preparedness Focus: 

Earthquake!

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April is Disaster Preparedness Month in Washington, and Earthquake Preparedness Month in Oregon. On Tuesday, April 24, between 9:45 - 10:00 am, Washington's statewide Drop Cover Hold drill (Poster, 231 KB, PDF) will have thousands of schoolchildren and other Washington State citizens crouching under their desks to practice protecting themselves from an earthquake. Drop Cover Hold is still the best and safest way to ride out an earthquake.

If you feel a REAL earthquake DON'T call 9-1-1 to get information or report the earthquake. 9-1-1 should only be used to report a serious emergency, like a fire or explosion, or a seriously injured person. Instead, check out the information automatically generated by the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network within 5 minutes of an earthquake. If after five minutes the earthquake has not yet appeared on the website, you can report it online. 

The Nisqually Quake that hit the Puget Sound area in 2001 was not really the "Big One" we are told to expect here. But it was a good  wake up call to remind us of our risk. Any day now we could experience a jolt from the Cascadia Subduction Zone that could be far more powerful than the Nisqually Quake, or anything California has experienced in the past century.

There are many things you can do to prepare for an earthquake and make your home safer. In addition to general emergency preparedness for all disasters, you should also evaluate your surroundings to see what you can do mitigate the damage before an earthquake hits.  The Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup has valuable information for everyone about what to do.

Earthquakes are only one risk we face, though. During a disaster, as for smaller kinds of emergencies, you might expect to rely on organizations like your local fire department, emergency management, the American Red Cross, or your own church to help you. But the truth is that they can’t do everything for you when disaster strikes.  You need to do your part, too.

So how prepared are you if disaster should strike tomorrow? Take our interactive quiz and find out how you can become better prepared at home, at work or school, and in your neighborhood.

Partners

The following agencies and organizations are sponsoring events or providing resources for outreach. They are united in their commitment to emergency preparedness. Events listed in the calendar have received the endorsement of the entire coalition. Each community organization may also have unrelated missions and activities which have not been reviewed or endorsed by the coalition. You should decide for yourself  which additional resources or services are appropriate for your own use.