Recent earthquakes around the globe in Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, and Japan are reminders for people living in seismic zones that earthquake preparedness is essential. Moreover, the 2011 Japan Earthquake demonstrated that a tsunami warning would be very beneficial for people living in tsunami-risk regions near the coasts. So, how can you prepare, manage, and recover from the potential costs due to damage to your home and its contents from future destructive earthquakes and tsunamis?

Earthquake preparedness requires you to be aware of the proximity of your home to active fault lines and be knowledgeable on the effects of earthquakes and the factors influencing earthquake damage to your home. It also requires a disaster preparedness plan to ensure home safety through seismic retrofitting the home structural system and risk mitigation of the home contents. Seismic retrofit includes upgrading the anchorage to concrete foundations, bracing the cripple walls of the crawl space or basement, bracing the walls of the soft story, and adequately anchoring the walls and masonry chimney to the structural members of the floors and roof. Risk mitigation is to secure the home contents to the studs of the interior walls or floors, which requires no special expertise, using inexpensive hardware tools and materials found in hardware stores. It is recommended to mitigate the contents of your home, especially water heaters, whether you seismic retrofit it or not. Earthquake insurance is an effective option in reducing the potential costs of inevitable future earthquakes in addition to or in lieu of seismic retrofitting. Flood insurance would also be effective for people living near the coast in tsunami-risk areas.

Emergency preparedness against man-made disasters or natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis requires purchasing a household emergency kit, survival kits for household members, and maintaining survival food and emergency drinking water for 2 weeks at all times. Taking an emergency training course on first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation would be beneficial. If you live in California, you can learn more by participating in the annual Great California ShakeOut Earthquake Drill in October.

Tsunamis may be generated by earthquakes-induced movements of the ocean floor. It may take few minutes to several hours for the tsunami wave to reach the coast, which would give people a chance to evacuate. The mega tsunami that followed the Japan Earthquake and devastated the East Coast of Honshu raised again the issue of tsunamis for people living few miles from the coast, especially in regions that are less than 25 feet above the ocean level. Traditionally, people use emergency radio like the NOAA weather radio to receive tsunami warning once issued. With the development of technology and gadgets, tsunami alert is currently available as a free application for Android-based and Apple-based mobile device users.

Earthquake survival and disaster recovery are knowledge of what to do during and after an earthquake?

Complete information and earthquake pictures can be found in the original article.