Prepare My Home and Family for an Earthquake, or any other disaster that comes along

I realized that we did not have a good outdoor sleeping bag for every family member, so this past week I ordered a quality REI bag from the REI outlet rated to 10 degrees. My big fear is being in the PNW with no shelter/electricity…risk of hypothermia is great here, and a good bag is an excellent prep item!

I took a step towards EQ preparedness and anchored all my breakables down with museum wax. Mostly a collection of nice German beer steins. This may not help if we ever get the really big quake, but I figure it is better to have this done than not. I also invested in a gas wrench for shutoff, an “experimental” kitchen cabinet earthquake latch, and a earthquake proof picture hanging kit, the latter two of which still need to be installed.

Now that I have a home with stairs, we decided to purchase a fire ladder for the home! I want to purchase one more in the very near future so we have one in each bedroom.

I have launched into the building of my Emergency Notebook.

Purchased a pretty binder, and dividers and divided into the following sections:

Proof of ID
Property Records
Insurance Policies
Medical Info
Financial Records
Estate Planning
Other (Emergency Contacts, Photos, Emergency Instructions)

I have begun scanning copies of important documents that would be needed in a grab and go or other situation. That way I have everything in one place.

You are awakened by the roaring and rocking of an enormous 9.5 megaquake that lasts 4 minutes. The initial shaking stops. It is dark. The power is out. You can feel the cold air of outside entering your home as windows have broken and parts of your house possibly have crumbled. The smell of natural gas hangs in the air. You can hear water running, and your children are crying out for you, unable to see in the darkness. The earth continues to quiver with aftershocks. What are your next actions?