West coast residents: how much do you worry about earthquakes?

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LaSerenita@reddit

I actually have my bedroom set up so nothing can fall on me in the event of an earthquake when I am in bed. All of the bedrooms in my house are set up this way. Any/all bookcases are set up so they cannot crush a person or a pet. Overhead cabinets with cups/plates/glasses are set up to keep the contents inside so they do not come flying out of the cabinets in an earthquake.

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Granadafan@reddit

Most people are woefully unprepared for a big quake or other natural disaster. The Red Cross says to have enough supplies to last 3 days without electricity, gas, or water. In reality, you should really have about 2 weeks of supplies, especially water.

People can join community based programs such as Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which is usually coordinated by local fire departments to teach people to help themselves and their neighborhood. In large disasters, emergency responders are going to be overwhelmed and will focus on large scale mad casualty situations such as collapsed freeways. They won’t have resources to respond to individual calls.

Even here in LA after the massive fires last year, I talk to people about having a go bag to grab quickly and escape, they look at me blankly. We have go bags with extra clothes, copies of important documents, some cash, and bags for our two cats.

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UnbelievableRose@reddit

Seconding CERT. If you’re too lazy for that, the #1 thing the LAFD wants you to know is how to shut off your gas at the meter.

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Granadafan@reddit

CERT LA has some events where they give away emergency gear such as gas shut off tools and stuff for Go Bags.

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UnbelievableRose@reddit

Really? I heard funding has dried up and they’re not even giving out backpacks to graduates anymore. That might vary by battalion though.

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yozaner1324@reddit

I've lived in Oregon my whole life and never actually felt an earthquake, but supposedly we're going to get a massive earthquake from the cascadia subduction zone sometime between this evening and 500 years from now. So in my day to day life, I don't really think about it, but I've decided to avoid living in old, unreinforced masonry apartments or on hillsides, just in case it happens in my lifetime.

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JDeau93@reddit

Only really when I’m on one of those 2 level freeways like the one that pancaked in Lima Prieta

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AstuteCouch87@reddit

Not at all. Got plenty of bookcases and hanging things around my house. I would imagine I am as concerned about earthquakes as you are about a tornado or something.

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Common-Parsnip-9682@reddit

It’s not worry so much as taking sensible precautions — like fastening tall bookcases to the wall.

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PluckyPerspicacity@reddit

I lived in California for 23 years and we took all the earthquake precautions. But seriously, I was a lot more worried about the wildfires. Watching one inching its way toward your house is terrifying.

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papisilla@reddit

I hung a sword on my wall once right above my bed. Few days later I thought about it and took it down. Other than that zero concern

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Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit

I’m in Seattle and lived through the big one in 2001 (6.8). I pretty much never think about them🤷🏻‍♀️

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RunJumpSleep@reddit

I have spent my entire life in Southern California. I have never worried about earthquakes. I lived through the Northridge earthquake and it didn’t even make me worry about earthquakes.

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Usual_Singer_4222@reddit

We do, yet don't. Mostly don't put stuff up that might land on us.

The beginning of Love Story kinda exemplifies it

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTBJRgtjB/

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majortomandjerry@reddit

I did a sesimic retrofit on my 115 year old house to make it more resistant to earthquake damage.

I installed a seismic shutoff valve on the gas line to turn it off if there's a quake big enough to break any gas lines.

I anchor tall bookcases to the walls so they won't fall over.

Beyond that, there's not much I can do, so I don't worry too much.

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No_Piccolo6337@reddit

Heyo! Same. I bolted my 1911 bungalow to its foundation. Oregon.

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Kaurifish@reddit

Go bag.

We have cats, so we also have a backpack carrier.

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wiserTyou@reddit

I'm not a prepper by any means but a go bag is just good planning. I don't have one yet but it's on the list.

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Crumb_Situation481@reddit

i assembled one for myself and one for my cats a couple months ago and got teased by so many people in my life about being a ‘prepper’ lol. i mean i guess it took a bit of effort to put together in the moment but having it just feels like a good idea

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Kaurifish@reddit

I was in SoCal for the Northridge quake. Had to do a supply run the day after for a family member who couldn’t get drinking water.

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CalmRip@reddit

That's a good addition to the prepared go bag. Think I'll add that to the list.

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scantron3000@reddit

We have backpacks in our cars filled with everything we could need in case we happen to be driving somewhere when the big one hits and need to walk home.

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No_Piccolo6337@reddit

I live an hour from the Oregon coast.

I bolted my house to its foundation, installed a rainwater catchment system, have a solar generator, a satellite radio, and two months worth of shelf-stable food.

So… I guess a lot.

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kwerdop@reddit

Not even slightly

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Dangerous-City6856@reddit

Zero percent of my day is spent worrying about earth quakes or changing my life to align with the risks. If something falls off a shelf then I’m probably more concerned with the structural impact to the house than I am about some random knick knack I live in Los Angeles area.

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stemofsage@reddit

Eh, I have lived through a big one and even still it never worried me day to day growing up in Southern California. That said, all my dressers and bookshelves were screwed into walls. There’s “not worried” a then there is “willfully ignorant.” I chose to do what I can to not die under my own furniture but also knew that’s about all I could do while renting…I now live elsewhere but I still feel like everyone who hasn’t lived on the west coast makes a much bigger deal about it than we ever did.

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IRegretBeingHereToo@reddit

Just barely, honestly. I don't hang things over beds. We keep emergency water. That's it

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ZootOfCastleAnthrax@reddit

Oregonian: I keep my pantry full of canned food and dry goods, and have a modest supply of water and TP in the garage. I also have a solar-powered phone charger.

And, I never hang anything heavy over my headboard. :)

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Constant-Prog15@reddit

Grew up in the Bay Area and now live in PDX. I worry about it enough to have things strapped down. And since if there’s a big one here, it will be BIG, we keep “earthquake boxes” under our deck. Each person has a box for clothes and toiletries (mostly just a toothbrush), and we have several other boxes with: a tent and Mylar blankets, LifeStraw family size purifier (we have a creek nearby), non-perishable food that we swap out every six months, and first aid supplies.

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Which_Case_8536@reddit

NOT. AT. ALL.

Don’t put anything above my bed after the Northridge quake though.

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anneofgraygardens@reddit

i don't fret about it too much, but I also don't have framed art above my bed. I bought an original piece of art that's on stretched canvas to hang there. If it falls on my head, it won't be the most fun experience in life but it also won't kill me.

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FormerlyDK@reddit

I’m in NY and thankful I don’t have to fear any of those natural disasters. Regardless, and beyond all reason, I recently read Bobby Akart’s Ring of Fire series and the first book had me in mortal fear of volcanos for weeks! (We have none.)

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Unlikely-Low-8132@reddit

I am in Los Angeles born here and the only thing is I don't have anything over my bed, but I do not worry about earthquakes, got enough to worry about, slept through San Fernando Earthquake and went back to sleep after Northridge, when I got up had to clean up all the CD's that fell. Tall bookcases should be anchored to the wall.

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FixergirlAK@reddit

Worry? Not at all. I have Raspberry Shake seismometer, I have all my fragile items secured on their shelves, and I know where the emergency valves are from my gas and water inlets. Earthquakes (and volcanoes) are just a fact of life here along with moose, blizzards, and insane gas prices. There's ice cream in the freezer, we'll be okay.

My mum experienced the Big One, the 9.3 Good Friday earthquake in 1964. The main rupture was over four minutes long. She is incredibly blasé about earthquakes.

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ThePickleConnoisseur@reddit

Nothing really. My mom lived through Northridge which sucked a bit but I’ve only ever been through 3.0s at best

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Original_Wazilla@reddit

I live in the Bay Area, CA and I never worry about them. When they happen and I do notice, it’s kind of an exciting moment. Sometimes people might make small talk about it for a day or two. I don’t hang anything heavy over my bed. That’s pretty much it.

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plumberbss@reddit

As a 59 year old Californian. Absolutely zero

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tujelj@reddit

As a Californian who’s lived in a bunch of other parts of the country, I’m used to people being freaked out about the mere notion that an earthquake could be possible…but to Californians, it’s generally no big deal. We know eventually there’ll be a big one, and that sucks, but we don’t dwell on it too much, and the smaller ones, we just kind of shrug at.

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Emergency-Machine-55@reddit

A significant number of Californians inmigrated from Taiwan and the Philippines, which have larger, more frequent earthquakes along with typhoons. Life would be exhausting they constantly worried about things they can't control.

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machagogo@reddit

Being from NYC earthquakes are rare to me, and due to the type of ground we have beneath us even the small ones are felt for distances even if no real damage is done... Anyway a few years back I was in LA for work and as I was walking down the stairs I felt a quake so I looked it up on usgs.gov and it was like a 3.8 or something, nothing crazy for you but that would be crazy for us... but what really surprised me was that it was actually like the 12th one in the area in the 3 days I had been there and no one I had been around mentioned any of it. That would be all we were talking about here in the NYC area.

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CalmRip@reddit

When I lived in North Carolina, friends would ask me if my family in San Diego was safe, because they'd heard about a 2.5 or 3.1 quake about 20 miles away. The answer of course was "They probably didn't feel it, but they're probably fine."

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twxf@reddit

So many people so freaked out by earthquakes, but live in places where giant funnels can just come out of the sky and suck you up like a vacuum

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Figgler@reddit

My wife was pretty surprised when I told her we used to go outside and look for tornadoes when we had a warning in effect. We never had one hit nearby but it was common to see them in the distance.

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tujelj@reddit

I’ve been in earthquakes and hurricanes, and have hurricanes a thousand times more.

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log0n@reddit

Funny I feel the exact opposite.

After growing up in South Florida, take a hurricane over any other natural disaster if for no other reason then it’s the only one nice enough to give you a weeks heads up that it’s coming and time to prepare.

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tujelj@reddit

That’s exactly why I hate hurricanes. So much waiting. So much existential dread. Whereas an earthquake…it can cause fires and other ongoing issues, but for the most part, it’s done shortly after you realize what’s going on.

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WarrenMulaney@reddit

Same

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Christymapper71@reddit

Orange County, CA. Crosses my mind occasionally but nothing I lose sleep over. Been here my whole life; home is wood frame. I think NorCal is most susceptible to “Big One” extensive damage. Where I live is not near the San Andreas.

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stevepremo@reddit

West coast my whole 72 years of life. I never worry about earthquakes, but do prepare by strapping in the water heater, anchoring heavy bookcases to the wall, etc. But no reason to worry, even though I lived through the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in Santa Cruz. It knocked down all the brick chimneys in town and parts of several unreinforced brick buildings, but few people were injured. And it's totally unpredictable, unlike hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires, which you can see coming. So no reason to worry. Just know it's going to happen sometime in the next several decades.

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SpunkyBlah@reddit

The only time I think about it is when deciding where to put up shelves and what is on them. I live within a few miles of the San Andreas fault, so most buildings here (as long as they are up to code) are able to withstand pretty big magnitudes without a problem.

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strongly-worded@reddit

Grew up in CA, now live in WA. I worried about it a lot more when I lived in actual earthquake territory. Here in the puget sound, we never get small/medium quakes, and if The Big One comes, we’re all fucked waaaay beyond what you can fix with being careful where you hang stuff or put bookcases. I secure my furniture to the wall anyway for small children visitors, but I don’t think about it beyond that

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masonic-youth@reddit

Enough that I don't hang anything over my headboard and I don't hang my guitars on the wall

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hep632@reddit

Someone posted a picture of their bedroom on Reddit years ago and they had some kind of elaborate glassware collection on shelves above the headboard. It gave me chills!

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AnitaIvanaMartini@reddit

I’m in OAK too, did you feel the one we had last month?

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Valcyor@reddit

I was down in SF from PDX last month, and yes, that quake was an interesting experience to say the least.

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AnitaIvanaMartini@reddit

We had one in PDX when I lived there. The fault line runs right up the middle of Belmont, where I lived. It was just one huge BANG and my building moved. I assumed it had been hit by a big truck. The only damage was on Belmont, where Zupan’s (remember them?) had to replace a window. The only thing I noticed was rats. Ew. They were out and about for a day or so.

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bachintheforest@reddit

This is interesting, I was going to say “I literally never think about earthquakes unless one happens that I could actually feel” but your comment made me realize that when I’ve moved to a new place I do avoid hanging stuff over the bed. Only think about that once every several years. Lifelong Californian.

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LopsidedGrapefruit11@reddit

Good point. I secure furniture and don’t put anything over my bed. Breakable stuff I want to display is secured with museum wax.

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normiepitbullmom@reddit

i have cousins in Berkeley, they are posting constantly about earthquakes

I felt one like 10-15 years ago on the east coast. I thought perhaps a construction truck was outside, but then when the china cabinet was shaking like in a movie, I said “oh my god….is this an earthquake!?” It was!

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ljlkm@reddit

I take basic precautions but that's it.

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sleepygrumpydoc@reddit

Heavy things are anchored to the wall, I don’t hang anything over the bed which could fall on me, but other than that I don’t think about or worry about earthquakes at all. In fact I probably wouldn’t even move if I felt anything under a 5.0 and even a 5.0 I may not really do anything. I lived through Loma Prieta and even though freeways collapsed lass than 10 miles from my house nothing fell or got damaged at mine. I can’t even remember the last earthquake where I did something more than think “oh I think that was an earthquake”

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NinjaGinny@reddit

I have large furniture like bookcases bolted to the wall. I also don’t put heavy things above my bed. I currently have pictures but they are light and in plastic frames.

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CalmRip@reddit

No, I don't really worry about quakes, because worry is a useless emotion. I do take precautions, like anchoring heavy items like bookcases to walls, using Museum Wax on vases, figurines, and similiar things, and not storing big, heavy unanchored things over my bed.

What's most important of all is knowing what to do if a quake hits.

If you're inside, stay there. Going outside exposes you to downed power lines, shattered glass, and other hazards.
If inside, get under a heavy desk, if possible, or move to the nearest doorway.
Stay away from windows, mirrors, and other glass items. They break, and big windows especially can cause bad cuts.
If you're outside, try to move inside or at least into a doorway. Otherwise, move as far away as you can from power lines, overpasses (falling cars), and waterways.

P. S. It's Loma PrietA, not PrietO.

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Yeahboyeah@reddit

Portland Oregon. We've had a couple of 5 range quakes that I recall.

The 1993 Scotts Mills earthquake, also known as the "Spring break quake", occurred in the U.S. state of Oregon on March 25 at 5:34 AM Pacific Standard Time. With a moment magnitude of 5.6 and a maximum perceived intensity of VII (Very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale, it was the largest earthquake in the Pacific Northwest since the Elk Lake and Goat Rocks earthquakes of 1981. Ground motion was widely felt in Oregon's Willamette Valley, the Portland metropolitan area, and as far north as the Puget Sound area near Seattle, Washington.

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smolhippie@reddit

As a Portland Oregonian…. Never!

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Los_Anchorage@reddit

I think about it in how our items are arranged, but I used to live in Alaska and earthquakes are common there. I lived in Anchorage during the 7.1 quake a few years ago, and there was damage to my walls and dishes. My husband, who is born and raised here in Seattle, does not think about it. He builds Lego and displays them, so I mostly think about them falling over 🫠

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SDEexorect@reddit

i live next too 2 rock quaries. I hear and feel blasting all the time. I probably wouldnt even notice an earthquake

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SassyGirl0202@reddit

Born and raised, never left, never even think about them!

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Snawer_brillant@reddit

They happen from time to time. Nobody should be worrying about it.

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Ok-Zebra8851@reddit

I don't think about it except when I'm hanging things on walls, etc. Otherwise, not much.

And I went through the Northridge quake, bit time!

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sotiredwontquit@reddit

I grew up in the Bay Area of California. I currently live on the slope of an active volcano. I am very aware of what an earthquake will do to my breakable possessions. But that’s just stuff and I don’t dwell on it. I just make sure nothing heavy is on the wall above where anyone sleeps. This includes the couch, and guest beds. Basically anywhere someone might nap has only soft, lightweight decor above it. Other than that I just don’t care.

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Consistent_Shake_217@reddit

I grew up in SoCal we anchor bookcases and TVs to the wall but thats the extent of the worry. I mean I also anchored my bookshelves out here in Maryland but thats more because my cat is a menace than anything else.

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Spirited-Way2406@reddit

Tell your friend from me: Yiiiiiiiiikes.

We can't afford fancy cupboards that lock, so we compromised by not putting anything heavy and/or made of glass on a shelf near where people sit or sleep. No shelves at all over the heads of beds. We don't buy tall, tippy furniture, but if we did it would be strapped to the wall behind it. We all know the route to the nearest high point with shelter on it in case of tsunami.

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Devee@reddit

I live in the Los Angeles area. I don't really think about them at all regarding safety, but I think about "huh all these Legos might break if this shelf falls in an earthquake."

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voltairesalias@reddit

At them what their insurance deductibles are for earthquakes compared to folks from other parts of the country. That'll give you real accurate measurement of the real concern.

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Leia1979@reddit

Earthquake insurance is separate from homeowner's insurance in California, and it's really expensive. According to FEMA, only 10% of homeowners in the state have it.

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voltairesalias@reddit

I can imagine! When I lived in BC (way less risk where I was than basically anywhere in CA - but still a risk) the deductibles were crazy. Like $25000 deductibles with most home owners insurance providers plus a fairly substabtial premium if covered. I can't even imagine what it is down there.

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Libertas_@reddit

Not very much at all. I don't hang anything dangerous on the walls and I make sure my earthquake kit is always prepared and has nothing expired. If it happens it happens

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Adorable_Dust3799@reddit

Quake straps are required for tall heavy items but I've never bothered.

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garster25@reddit

I pay lot for earthquake insurance and I have a wrench next to the gas shutoff and I paid to get some retrofit cripplewall done to the house. But other then that I don't think about it.

When one hits that I can feel, for a second I try to gauge if I need to dive under a table or chair but in my 50 years they have all been mild.

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richbiatches@reddit

No at all

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DanciePants12@reddit

I was born after loma prieta and san andreas, so I think I might be a little lax. But I definitely don’t hang anything heavy above the bed, and I make sure shelves (which should be anchored but I am lazy), as well as large dressers, won’t fall in a manner that blocks an exit door or fall on me in bed.

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No-Perspective872@reddit

As a California native who has always lived in California…I think very little about Earthquakes. I wouldn’t use a piece of freestanding furniture as a room divider without strapping it down, but that’s about it. I haven’t ever lost anything due to an earthquake and I’ve never needed any supplies or been affected in any other way.

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SkyerKayJay1958@reddit

Live in Seattle and collect glass. I invest in museum putty in case.

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thirdeyefish@reddit

I don't put things on edges of tables and I don't store fragile things permanently on open shelves. Apart from that, I only really worry at work in a 40' scissor lift.

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kipkiphoray@reddit

I live in Washington, west coast, right on the Sound. We are vulnerable to a 9.0+ megathrust earthquake, but the Juan de Fuca fault does not go off very often.

There was a 6.something in 2001 - the Nisqually Quake. The last 9.0 earthquake was January 1700.

I experienced more earthquakes growing up in MONTANA (I think I remember feeling 2 in my childhood - they were very small.)

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slayer1am@reddit

Earthquakes are pretty rare in Oregon, most people don't plan for them or think about them. Someday a mega quake is supposed to hit, but nobody knows if it's a year out or a thousand years out.

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AnitaIvanaMartini@reddit

Don’t make the mistake of reading the New Yorker article from a decade ago. It explained exactly what would happen when The Big One hits. I saw my neighborhood in PDX would become an “island,” cut off from the rest of the city for weeks, with no water. We’d probably explode before we died of thirst, though. I bought extra water, jerky and dates after that. Also all the catfood. All of it.

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Tia_is_Short@reddit

That article singlehandedly confirmed my decision to never move to the west coast😭

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Valcyor@reddit

Natural disaster-wise, I'd take the West Coast over anywhere with tornadoes or hurricanes. I know we have volcanoes and wildfires and earthquakes, but I'd rather deal with the insanely low likelihood of any of those being relevant than the seasonal threat of those other storms.

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AnitaIvanaMartini@reddit

I know many people who were really disturbed by that article. Frankly, I wish I’d never read it, even though it was excellent.

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smappyfunball@reddit

They are tearing down Beaverton High School this year cause it’s so old and been built up so much over the years that there was no way to earthquake proof it.

So bye bye old high school. From the pics I’ve seen it’s being replaced with an avant garde prison complex.

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RedRedBettie@reddit

I’ve been hearing about the big one my whole life and I’m mid 40s, it doesn’t worry me anymore

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FlyingPaganSis@reddit

I remember feeling a couple while I was on the Oregon Coast in the 2000s. The first one I thought was my sister’s big dog under the bed shifting around. Then I realized the dog wasn’t in the room, but I didn’t find out it was an actual earthquake until I got to work and everybody was talking about it. My sister had a similar experience in Pasadena circa 1990 when she thought the shaking was from an old elevator in the building.

I’d rather live on the west coast than in regular tornado or hurricane zones.

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oh_such_rhetoric@reddit

The Cascadia event will kill us all, so there’s no point worrying about it.

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IwannaAskSomeStuff@reddit

In Southwest Washington this is pretty much my take. I've never really experienced an earthquake that I knew was happening at the time, I'd find out afterwards and be all, "dang I missed it!" lol. There is the overhanging fear of "the big one" to come, but I'm far enough fromthe epicenter that I have a reasonable survival chance. I have considered relocating further east in the state, but there are just so few moderately cities east of here that it doesn't really seem worth it.

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FruityLegume@reddit

I have anything tall anchored to the wall. I have some water jugs and a battery operated fan, radio, and flashlight. Other than that, I don't think about it much. I'm in central California.

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Ghoulish_kitten@reddit

They retrofitted our house for free/tax payer money in the early 90s after Loma Prieta. We have never had any quakes anywhere near that since then.

Im assuming a big one can come but our quakes are nothing compared to Alaska.

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Word2DWise@reddit

I live in the PNW. I’m worried about the cascadia subduction zone big earthquake to believe it’s going to happen, but not care enough to actually do anything about it. If it does happen, I’ll either die, or have enough financial resources to move somewhere after rescue.

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PlusEnvironment7506@reddit

Thankfully nothing large. The small ones (3 and smaller) don’t even phase me.

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Express-Manager-7347@reddit

I mean - just realize that most Californians don’t have earthquake insurance.

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laurieg77@reddit

Nothing, I don’t care.

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Maleficent_Scale_296@reddit

My bookshelves are anchored to the wall and anything heavy is on the bottom two shelves. I don’t have anything over my bed. The fridge is fixed to the wall with a special strap. I have a go bag next to my bed and a duplicate in the car with emergency supplies. If an earthquake is big, shallow or goes on for a while we’re all screwed but I don’t go around thinking about it.

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Sea-Bill78@reddit

I don’t hang anything on walls, don’t have any tall cabinets or cases. Always look for an escape route when I am in a new building and have a plan at home as well with my emergency kit ready to go. I have been through a few quakes, they are no joke.

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Thin-Bat4202@reddit

Eh. I do attach heavy furniture to the wall, but mostly coz I have a kid. I do randomly assess where to duck and cover, or assess desks for sturdiness. I approve of the drills. It was cute, my kid around 5 years of saw an earthquake in a cartoon and had me stop the show so she could show me what you're supposed to do in an earthquake.

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No_Importance_750@reddit

Don’t rlly worry about it too much. I sleep through most of them anyway.

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rosietherosebud@reddit

I lived in the Bay Area for 3 years and it was always in the back of my mind. I made sure to keep my phone charged, and when I showered I tried to rinse soap expeditiously. I spent a lot of my free time in coastal cities like Santa Cruz, Capitola, and made note of the high points to head to in case of a major earthquake.

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ZHISHER@reddit

I grew up in LA, and we never worried about it too much besides having a few days worth of canned goods and water in the garage in case the utilities went out for a bit.

That said, I left the west coast 10 years ago and still can’t sleep with anything above me that could fall on me. No pictures above my bed, lamp is on the other side of the room, etc.

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QueenInYellowLace@reddit

Exact same. Childhood in LA, had tons of small quakes and a couple of big ones, never worried. But we do keep food and water, and I can’t live with anything mounted over the head of my bed.

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leeloocal@reddit

I always have shoes next to my bed.

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cheridontllosethatno@reddit

I've been in several and always think about them when I'm in a high rise.

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Imaginary_Ladder_917@reddit

Nothing over the bed, or something extremely light like a floral swag back in the 90s when those were popular. Bookcases bolted to the wall. Pictures on the wall also attached with wire that would catch them if they dropped. My dad worked for a large company in the department that dealt with safety, especially as an expert on disaster preparedness. We definitely had earthquake supplies in all our vehicles. What you describe gives me anxiety. Your friend needs to accept she’s living in earthquake country.

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DemandingProvider@reddit

I'm a born and raised Californian, and I'm old enough to have experienced many earthquakes of every size from barely felt to Loma Prieta (1989, the one sometimes known elsewhere as the "World Series quake").

We don't worry about earthquakes much, but we do prepare for them, because we know they're inevitable.

Tall and/or top-heavy furniture gets strapped to the wall. Heavy or valuable artwork and photos get hung with earthquake-safe clips. Fragile valuables get secured with museum putty or stored in protective containers. No books or other heavy/sharp items on shelves above the head of a bed. Shutoff wrench kept near the gas main, water and emergency food and other critical supplies kept in the garage or similar storage area as well as in the trunk of the car. Owners of older homes do seismic reinforcement of the foundation and shear walls if they can, and water heater tanks must be safety-strapped to wall studs.

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buzzybody21@reddit

Former SF resident from hurricane country East coast. I worried more about hurricanes, but got more damage from earthquakes. They’re unpredictable, which is what makes them slightly scarier.

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PrimaryHighlight5617@reddit

I know I already commented but on a follow-up note, if you have small children all of your large furniture should be anchored to your walls anyways. They can pull bookcases down on top of themselves and die that way. We just do this preemptively in case of an earthquake too.

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Suspicious-Sorbet-32@reddit

Central valley California. Never even really think about it. I've never felt one my whole life.

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PrimaryHighlight5617@reddit

I'm from California. Lived there until I was 22in Berkeley, which is next to Oakland and San Francisco. We've had countless earthquakes.

Most of the time it's just a little rumble rumble where everything shakes for 2 seconds. Maybe your knickknacks will fall over. I wouldn't expect anything to fall down though.

Worst one we ever had a bunch of picture frames fell over. I was actually at school funnily enough. It happened during the earthquake drill. The kind that have the little kickstand. That's all that happened. I moved in 2019.

Everything is built to handle earthquakes so I'm not worried.

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BankManager69420@reddit

Don’t really think much of it on a day-to-day basis. I do common sense things like nothing heavy over the bed and having a decent emergency bag and food storage.

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Black_Dog_Industries@reddit

I was born and raised in San Jose, Ca and live near Santa Cruz now.

I was 12 when the 1989 earthquake happened and I don’t know how many smaller earthquakes I’ve lived through.

I spend no time worrying about earthquakes. They’re really not a big deal.

I’ll never understand why people live in areas that have hurricane season. It’s called season because they occur during the same time every year and people stay there is wild to me.

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CaptainPunisher@reddit

I don't even think about them except if one happens. We have buildings and codes to minimize damage. I don't even feel them unless they're over 6.0. Most are just a quick jolt that feel like someone kicking your chair, and then it's over.

Back on 7/4-5/2019 there were two big ones in Ridgecrest/Trona that measured 6.4 and 7.1. That caused a lot of damage in the immediate vicinity from stuff falling and a decent bit of structural damage to older buildings and mobile homes. I'm a hundred miles away, and felt them as slow "rollers" that lasted 5 seconds or so; instead of a jolt, it was more bumpy. The first one I was home with my son and we both noticed that we were bouncing on the couch and in bed then saw the vertical blinds start swinging. We went back to watching TV. The next one was at a bar dating back to the early 1900s built with brick but retrofitted. Everybody felt the roller, looked at one another, and just went on as normal kind of like this scene in L.A. Story, but the real I've didn't last nearly as long.

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BelleMakaiHawaii@reddit

Born and raised in California, I don’t even notice anything under a 4.5, not even worth waking up for

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RedRedBettie@reddit

Not at all really, I’ve been in a few. I grew up on the west coast so it’s just normal to me. I’m much more freaked out by tornados and hurricanes

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Formal-Radish1413@reddit

I live outside Seattle and have for 5+ years now. I have yet to feel one. So either theyre so tiny its unnoticeable, theyre not occurring in my area, or they arent occurring at all.

Sure we all exist under the shadow of THE BIG ONE thats supposed to snap off the entire west coast (or maybe just California?) but honestly up here we dont even think about it.

We did have a hell of a time getting earthquake insurance when we bought our house a couple years ago. Idk if its because the companies didnt think it was nevessary or they were just being dicks about it. But i did find it odd that an area thats supposedly in prime earthquake territory didnt really talk about it as much.

Something that we DO see a lot of attention given to is tsunamis, especially down on the coast. Not so much in the Puget Sound area though.

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Ok-Dealer4350@reddit

Interesting. I live in central Maryland and we’ve lived through 2 earthquakes. One was in Potomac at about 4:30 in the morning and very local. My mother woke up because she recognized the groaning sound of the house. My daughter and husband slept through it. I was getting ready for work.

The second time was at work in Springfield, VA in the new agency building. The earthquake was located in Louisa, VA. It was felt all the way home. My daughter was home from school (an in service day). The cleaning lady was there and she’d grown up in Chile, which like California, gets lots of earthquakes. She called my daughter down and they stood in the doorway waiting for aftershocks.

They closed my work down to make sure the elevators and structure were sound.

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2PlasticLobsters@reddit

We're in a furnished rental, so had no say in most of the arrangements. Both headboards are very light. IDK if that was a design preference, or had earthquakes in mind. Possibly both.

I'm concerned enough that I've scoped out likely survivable spots. If I owned this house, I'd either move or get rid of the glass-fronted cabinet in the dining area. One of the survivable spots is under the very sturdy dinette table. But one side of it would likely be showered with shattered glass & ceramic, from the useless junk in that cabinet. It's still beat getting crushed by the roof, though.

We have something of a minimalist leaning, so don't have much decor, breakable or otherwise. But the house owners left a lot of their stuff. The cabinet is pretty, but undermines a good safety spot.

My main concern is that my partner doesn't seem to take this stuff seriously. I'd traveled in California enough to have picked up concerns about earthquakes, even before we moved from the Mid-Atlantic. I've pointed out the safest spots repeatedly, but he didn't seem to listen.

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BennyTheTraitor@reddit

I live in the part of Northern California that has 6.0+'s semi annually. I think about them every day and have my apartment planned with them in mind with emergency lighting and straps. We had almost 300 buildings red or yellow tagged from one a few years ago. Your friend should think about being prepared for the next one because there is always another one coming.

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morganproctor_19@reddit

Hey, neighbor. Yah, Rio Dell was hit pretty hard. Hope it's a while before the next quake like the Dec 20, 2022 one.

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Not_An_Isopod@reddit

0%

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Sooner70@reddit

I used to… But then my home was hit by a 7.1. It caused some minor damage. Since then?… We’re good. I’ve seen what a major quake will due to my home. Add to that the low likelihood of the same patch of dirt being hit by a second major quake inside of a human lifetime and… Yeah, I don’t worry about it anymore.

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sageamericanidiot@reddit

I no longer this in California, but I'm close in Nevada. Before I left I worried. Not everyday, but after the Northridge quake I experienced how destructive they can be and it caused some anxiety. We had to move and live with family members for a while after that and lost a lot of material possessions. My sister was injured, many of our neighbors also had the same experience.

Even though I only ever experience some very light shakes now, I still don't hang anything above my bed or my kids bed and anchor heavy furniture (which you should do anyway).

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StinkyLittleBird@reddit

I’m a Californian. I grew up in LA and there’s tons of fault lines all over the place. We were on the Whittier fault line. Every year you get earthquakes but if it’s less than 5 then it’s ignored. We don’t even duck and cover for it. I moved across state to Humboldt County - same thing but now I’m in a tsunami zone. I don’t even think about earthquakes. If it happens, we know what to do (public school trained it into you, have goods and necessities for several days in case all power is gone).

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Twichl2@reddit

Yeah the home I grew up with had tall cabinets strapped to the wall, told to never have heavy things over the bed, place heavy things on lower shelves, ect

Your friend, not because of earthquakes, should not have anything even moderately heavy over her bed fyi.

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morganproctor_19@reddit

Most people are pretty blasé about it and should do the things you asked about. I live 40 miles north of a triple-plate junction and don't worry much about earthquakes. My house has a relatively stable foundation. I'll admit though that the 6.4M in 2022 had me terrified because it just.wouldn't.stop. It wrecked a nearby town.

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lavasca@reddit

It is just kind of like waking up in the morning. You prep your home. I think people in cold climates think about prepping for winter similarly. It isn’t a big deal to include it just to be practical.

Do I worry daily about earthquakes? Nope. Small children might for a while after thier first experience.

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panicnarwhal@reddit

i lived in desert hot springs, ca as a kid, so earthquakes don’t really phase me at all. they are constant there!

but yeah, you anchor stuff to the wall, and don’t put stuff above your bed.

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ketamineburner@reddit

Always. I was in middle school during Northridge and it really shaped all kinds of choices. Decor, transportation, whether doors are open or closed, the food I keep in my house, and what I wear to bed.

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Physical-Incident553@reddit (OP)

I assume you keep shoes tied to your bed frame, too.

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mtcwby@reddit

Not at all. Born and raised in the bay area and have been through Loma Prieta and a bunch of smaller ones. Even remember having a laundry rack shake from a quake down in LA in 71'. We build for it and you attach bookcases and other things to wall studs. Biggest danger is gas lines and masonry chimneys and we stopped doing the latter years ago.

Fact is the significant ones aren't that often and there's no forewarning so there's not a lot that can be done except take reasonable steps. Our typical wood frame construction too is pretty well suited because it flexes. I'd be much more worried about flooding, tornadoes and hurricanes because they happen more often and building for it is more difficult.

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DrBlankslate@reddit

A lot of non-West Coasters believe that all earthquakes are like Loma Prieta '89, and they so aren't.

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DrBlankslate@reddit

I'm aware, not worried.

As you've seen from other commenters, most of us don't worry about it. We take proper precautions and then we live our lives. And 95% of the time, it's a shake for 30 seconds to a minute, and we move on. It's not a biggie.

What I worry about is wildfires, mainly because they are so difficult to control. For those not in the know, a wildfire is like a hurricane plus fire. Those are terrifying.

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Tillie_Coughdrop@reddit

I live in Seattle. I don’t worry about earthquakes because I can’t do anything about them one way or the other. I’d rather live here with the earthquake risk than in an area with tornados, hurricanes, wildfires, snakes, a huge bugs.

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AnitaIvanaMartini@reddit

We had a bit of a shaker in Berkeley last month. I wasn’t worried until the cat jiggled, panicked, and held her spot on my lap by digging her claws into my favorite thighs.

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bizoticallyyours83@reddit

Into my favorite thighs. 😆

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PtZamboat@reddit

Lived here most of my life, they’re so commonplace that if I can’t surf the coffee table ’round the living room don’t even bother me

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Ok_Volume_139@reddit

It's in the back of my mind for sure. Always keep a some basics/non-perishables around in case we end up getting a bad one.

Part of me is hoping one does happen though that way I can jump on a home when the property value dips afterwards.

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nomadschomad@reddit

Native California. Don’t worry much. Definitely prepare: emergency supplies in sturdiest closet (where we’d be for immediate aftershocks), no knickknacks on shelves over beds / cribs.

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LaLechuzaVerde@reddit

When I lived on the west coast, I prepared, but didn’t worry. Same as I do now about tornados in the Midwest.

Secure your furniture, have an emergency food and water supply, and don’t worry about things that are out of control.

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wildeberry1@reddit

I did a bit when I still lived on the Bay Area, securing furniture to the walls, etc. Especially after Loma Prieta in ‘89 (was hugely pregnant at the time).

Now that I’m out in the valley, not at all. We’ll occasionally feel a bit of a shake but nothing major.

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Effective_Coach7334@reddit

Native here, other than instinctively not arranging things that can easily fall or hurt someone, I don't worry about it. There's no reason to.

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BAMspek@reddit

I worked through an earthquake once. Boss said I could leave once the expo board was served. So I served it. Earthquakes aren’t scary. Until they are and then they are REALLY scary. But I’ve never experienced a scary one. 90% of people haven’t. Wildfires are scary. If you’re on the west coast, you should be waaaay more afraid of wildfires than you are of earthquakes.

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CleverGirlRawr@reddit

Don’t hang heavy things overhead/No overhead knickknacks. Bookcases are anchored to the wall. Nothing above the bed. We know where the gas shut off is and have a a little stored food and water. We have a place to go out of state if we had more than a few days of problems. But day to day I don’t think about it.

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getElephantById@reddit

I'm vaguely worried about "the big one" that's eventually coming, but not in a way that affects my life on a daily basis. I'm mainly worried about losing infrastructure (water and electricity) for a long time, I'm not really worried about being hurt by the main event since that is unlikely.

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bloodectomy@reddit

I remember Loma Prieta and no, I don't do anything extra for earthquakes. Most quakes are nowhere near the same level as LP. It's not worth worrying about.

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bizoticallyyours83@reddit

Mmm not often. I don't live close enough to the major faultlines and a lot of the quakes I've been in, only last for a minute or less. Its all relative to where you're at and how strong it is.

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Kushali@reddit

I don’t. I have an emergency bag with food, water, cat food and a change of clothes. I probably actually need to check that again. It’s been a couple years. But I got in that habit from living in LA fire county.

I know to drop, covet, and hold. And I’ve signed up for the local earthquake alert texts.

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9thSphere@reddit

Not at all. In fact, I have a large picture frame hanging above the stacks of books on my headboard. I was here for '89. I just don't give a shit.

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Oliver_Dixon@reddit

Probably less than I should

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jwezorek@reddit

I'm not from California but have lived here for fifteen years or something now. One thing to understand (that I did not understand about earthquakes) is that out here they happen quite often, maybe one or two a year, and are nothing. By the time you realize an earthquake is happening it is over.

You go on Discord or, in my case, the Pasadena subreddit and see if anyone is talking about a quake, where it was centered, etc. So what this does psychologically is it gets you used to them and it is hard to fear something you are used to. The idea of a big one just becomes like any other abstract fear -- it's like how I am scared in the abstract of airplane crashes but I still fly.

Anyway after recent events, I am much more worried about wildfires than earthquakes.

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DosZappos@reddit

I lived in inland Southern California for a few years. I didn’t worry, and I don’t recall anyone I knew being outwardly worried about it. I work in a construction-adjacent industry and can say that there are tons of seismic regulations

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DubGreen@reddit

This. We have an earthquake almost weekly in the inland empire. We notice them and mine in with our lives. Like most in California, I didn't have anything over my bed that could fall on me.

I lived near Northridge in the '94 quake. Yes people died but I figure any building still standing after that it's safe to live in.

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AnitaIvanaMartini@reddit

My tall 1895 Victorian survived both 1906 and 1989, without so much as a sidewalk crack. The roof on my neighbor’s 1970 faux Victorian caved in and her front steps parted from her house.

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PerennialGeranium@reddit

"Worry" is the wrong word, but yeah most California-raised people would use earthquake wax on the breakables and skip the heavy things over the bed.

People are…moderately good about bolting furniture to the wall and generally pretty bad about keeping an earthquake kit on hand.

It's the sort of thing where people always say "oh yeah, I really need to have one of those. I'll get around to it," and then never actually do it.

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LopsidedGrapefruit11@reddit

Not at all. 52 year old San Diegan.

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genericname907@reddit

While I’m in Alaska, which I think doesn’t get hit as much, I put it in the realm of tornadoes. I grew up in the Midwest and they were a common occurrence. They never worried me much because they are just a fact of life. I feel the same about earthquakes now. The first few were unsettling, but now sometimes the earth just shakes. I was in Anchorage for the 7.4, so not like I haven’t seen a “big one”

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Vegetable-Shirt-4319@reddit

364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and about 30 seconds a year, I don't worry about them at all.

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Ok-Big2807@reddit

If I die, I die

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elderly_millenial@reddit

Nothing over the head of the bed, ceiling fans are reinforced, water heater tank is strapped in place

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Difficult-Ad2084@reddit

Only to the extent that we had one large enough (7.5+) that would endanger the aged dam that sits 2 miles upriver from my family's home on a sub fault. And after living through the 89 quake I will never feel safe on a double Decker freeway (Chicago freaked me out, lol). The medium ones are mostly just starting.

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tw1nkle@reddit

There is prep you can do, and prep you can’t. Then there’s stuff in the middle that is just about your anxiety level.

Do we have go bags ready with food, water, medical supplies? Yes. Do we avoid putting heavy objects above our beds? Yes. Do we make sure our buildings have their foundations pinned etc? Yes (that one’s legally required.)

Do we strap or glue everything in the house down? Nope. Do we constantly think about The Big One? No. Do we sometimes confuse a small quake for the washing machine hitting the spin cycle and vice versa? Yup.

The way l look at it, my building has made it through two major quakes and if one hits that is big enough to start knocking everything off the shelves, I’ll have a lot more to worry about than a bit of tidying up.

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This-Satisfaction-71@reddit

Im in Oregon. We live just outside the city and if the big one ever hits we will likely be cut off from all supplies, or if we are at work we will be far away from home and the kids. So we both keep a get home bag in our cars, which is basically camping gear and backpacker food. At home we do deep pantry and have water filtration stuff so we can get water from a nearby creek. We could always prep more, but it isnt really realistic to go too crazy when it might not even happen in our lifetimes. I probably should take down the painting above our bed though.....

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Sparkle_Rott@reddit

I mean one of the largest recorded earthquakes in the US was in the fault near Nashville which has zero earthquake building codes 😬

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TehLoneWanderer101@reddit

There have been times I either didn't feel an earthquake, mistook one for a truck driving by, or posted on the internet about it happening while it happened. It's no big deal for me.

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BuckTheStallion@reddit

SoCal native here. I won’t hang anything over my bed that I don’t want falling on me (I have a few plushies and a shelf with some small photos and a Lego set on it). I helped my mom anchor her antique China cabinet to the wall many years ago as well. Aside from that, not really much? If it’s big enough that it knocks anything expensive over, I’ll deal with that when it happens. Like dude, it’s not worth my trouble worrying about my TV or PS5. At the end of the days it’s just some stuff.

Most earthquakes will jiggle you a bit at worst. Rarely we might get some unstable items knocked off shelves and such, but those are few and far between. If we get another massive one? I have bigger concerns than if my TV is busted, like “are the roads good enough that I can dip out and get to somewhere with water and food. Speaking of, we do keep basic provisions and water in hand, enough for a few days to a week.

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Raibean@reddit

California born and raised and the answer is basically never. I wouldn’t hang anything heavy over my head but that’s not because of earthquakes and more because accidents happen!

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VeronicaMarsupial@reddit

A small amount in my personal life. I don't worry about it a lot, but I would never put heavy things over my bed where they could fall on me in an earthquake.

I do think constantly about seismic design of buildings that are being constructed or renovated, but that's mostly because it's my job.

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rubyreadit@reddit

Do I worry? No. But also, do we have our heavy bookcases strapped to the wall and nothing on the wall over our beds? Definitely yes.

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General_Ad_6617@reddit

I hang nothing on my walls.

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Objective-Ad5620@reddit

Born and raised west coaster; grew up in the Seattle area where I experienced earthquakes and we always had drills in school. We also had volcano and tsunami evacuation routes. Currently live in California (and had the tiniest little earth tremble my first week here).

The thing is, these aren’t frequent enough occurrences to really influence our day-to-day prep. I don’t hang anything heavy above beds and I make sure those items are mounted safely but otherwise, I’m far less worried about stuff in the event of an earthquake. I just want to get my cat safe and secure.

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the_myleg_fish@reddit

My headboard has a shelf on top and I only put stuff animals and my mini backpacks on there, never anything heavy. I also have my bookshelf in my bedroom anchored to the wall since it's close to the door, and I wouldn't want it blocking my exit route.

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Gold_Telephone_7192@reddit

As someone who was born and raised in California, I promise you we worry about earthquakes wayyy less than people from other parts of the country think we would lol. Basically all you have to do is not hang stuff above your bed and then once every ten years maybe a couple books fall off your shelves and you have to go to stand in a doorway for a couple of minutes. Out of all the natural disasters, it’s the one that effects people the least. Hurricanes and tornadoes sound way more scary.

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chickpeas3@reddit

I don’t really care, but I don’t live on or near any major fault lines. Hell, the first earthquake I ever felt in my life was when I lived in Boston for a few years.

If I lived anywhere near the coast, I’d be more careful with how anchoring furniture and hanging things… but I don’t so 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Sirenista_D@reddit

I live in the inland Empire, Southern California. No I don't worry about earthquakes. In my 51 years living here, there's only been a handful that were major ones and I happened to live in an area that was not greatly impacted outside of shaking and some stuff off kilter.

However my bookcase is absolutely strapped to the wall. My large wall artwork have heavy duty holders as do my TV brackets. I have a very well prepared earthquake kit stashed in a corner of my garage, so if there is a collapse it has best chance of withstanding.

Most earthquakes get no more reaction than, "oh wow, earthquake", and then jumping online to report I Felt An Earthquake

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lifeisfascinatingly_@reddit

I don’t.

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Artistic-Degree-4593@reddit

In the Seattle area of Washington, we are more like to have a mountain explode than a devastating earthquake. Mt. Rainier is actually several thousands of years past due for an eruption. Many of our communites are on a lahar or in a valley where all the material on the sides of the volcano will slide into the valley and push entire communities out of the valley.

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Thunda792@reddit

I have lived in the PNW for most of my life. Aside from occasional worry about "The Big One" happening, I don't think about it much. My house has an earthquake retrofit, and I don't hang anything above my headboard, but don't do anything specific to prepare for earthquakes aside from general disaster preparedness. As long as the house stays standing, we are probably good for a couple weeks before we start eating the neighbors.

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canisdirusarctos@reddit

I don’t really, but the fact they’ve always been part of life has definitely affected the way I do things.

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Hamster_S_Thompson@reddit

Not that much but I bought th earthquake insurance add on as my regular home insurance does not cover earthquakes.

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mixreality@reddit

Not at all. The worst was in the 90s but I've slept through most since.

I lived on a 2 story floating home on the Columbia River and the home inspector who was an engineer also lived on one and was mentioning how they are exposed to 7+ equivalent EQ forces occasionally and modern building codes are more than adequate.

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DeeDeeW1313@reddit

Eh, not too much. Wildfires are a bigger concern for me. If I was closer to the coast I’d be more concerned.

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zoobernut@reddit

I rarely think about it. Land slides and forest fires are a much bigger concern. Live in California.

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TheRestIsMemory@reddit

It wasn't a day to day worry, but yeah, you wouldn't hang heavy things over the head of your bed and open shelving for things like dishes was a no-go. And otherwise you just live your life. I'd say the deeper preparedness comes in things like building codes.

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nonother@reddit

I would never hang anything heavy over my head or over our child’s crib. We anchor our bookshelves to the wall, but that’s more because we have a kid than due to earthquakes. I don’t really worry about earth at all, but we do prepare for them.

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doozle@reddit

In LA and it's one of those things that's likely to happen but so are car accidents and I can't control either so I just live my life.

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molotovzav@reddit

I don't live in California but I visited the bay area every summer of my childhood because my family lives there. It's baked into the culture there. Things are retrofitted, you don't hang up certain things, you care about how the house was build and major fault lines. You think about it when you're on the bay bridge. The last big earthquake happened a year before I was born so it was a very recent memory for most of my family but none of them lived there at the time it happened.

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DehydratedManatee@reddit

I don't even think about them

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Gilded-Mongoose@reddit

LA here.

Almost not at all. And I've been through a couple terrifying ones too - high rise was shaking and swaying (that's a nuance you don't realize until you live it - a building will sway slowly back and forth, while everything also rumbles and shakes), light fixtures swinging and stuff falling over.

Happened almost back to back in 2019. A few small ones since. If we have The Big One while I'm living in this high rise I could be cooked. But generally it just doesn't occur to me, much less worry me.

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FondleGanoosh438@reddit

Not as much in western Washington as I did in Southern California which is probably the opposite of what I should feel. California would probably fair better because of the building codes after the Northridge earthquake. Seattle is allegedly fucked when it happens.

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Laurie-la@reddit

Live in an earthquake hot spot, and we're taught the dangers of it in elementary school. My state would do routine earthquake drills for all school districts.

That said, I don't really care lol. I just dont think about it. I've actually slept through most of the minor shakes that have happened during my life. We don't really get other severe natural disasters in my area so it's not something you think about often.

I have tall bookshelves in my room full of heavy objects that aren't bolted to the wall, and the rest of my family is the same way. I can't speak for other folks but we really just don't think about it when decorating or rearranging. If everything falls, it is what it is.

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Alternative-Quit-161@reddit

We get little giggles, under 4.5, all the time. We all know the big one will come. Preparing is paramount. We all, hopefully, prepare for fires and evacuations, loosing everything. Prepping for an earthquake is similar but could, but not necessarily mean, staying in place as exit routes could be detroyed thus storing a lot more food and water.

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Embarrassed_Fig1801@reddit

Been here my whole life and was here for the 89 earthquake. If you aren’t aware of that one it was the biggest to hit the Bay Area since 1906 and made a mess of the whole area. Having said that, I really don’t worry much. I have an earthquake kit in the shed, it’s got a few gallons of water and maybe some canned foods and a can opener I think and sleeping bags. As far as arranging the house I never put any thought into it as far as earthquakes but now that I think of it I don’t really have any breakable expensive things on shelves. It’s mostly framed pictures. But unless something was really valuable I wouldn’t worry about it. Most earthquakes are pretty short and not all that intense so odds are anything in the house would be fine. The earthquake kit is mostly in case of a water main break or some kind of insane situation where we can’t get to a store to buy food but even in the 89 quake I’m sure very few people had issues like that. Some house in San Francisco and near the epicenter took serious damage so it was rough for them. Houses are generally built to handle earthquakes. We don’t have a lot of brick here, mostly wood houses so they flex a bit.

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Proof-Ad3637@reddit

Same thing have also posted. When out doing stuff, look for exits, possible secure places to stand under

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itsmecinder@reddit

When I lived in southern CA with my ex-boyfriend who was born and raised there, we were aware but not worried. He was much more conscious of bolting down bookcases and how fragile things were stored than I was. As younger adults though we were inconsistent in its application to our apartment...

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BigWhiteDog@reddit

Not at all. They are a fact of life and there isn't much I can do about them. However I live in an area that doesn't historically get the big ones and don't get out much so there's that.

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Trolldad_IRL@reddit

It not something I think about on a daily basis. It’s not like there would be a warning that would give us time to prepare. It’s just something that happens infrequently

Right now though you made me look at all the things I have that would fall and break if there was a reasonably strong earthquake. Then again, I’ve lived here most of my life (Greater Los Angeles area) and only once have we had one strong enough to give me a floor of glass after everything fell.

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sydneyunderfoot@reddit

Most people don’t worry about them much. You can bolt heavier bookcases to the wall to make it more secure, but a lot of people don’t bother, especially if they are renting and don’t want to damage walls. The vast majority of earthquakes don’t knock anything over, big ones are very rare, and newer buildings have strict codes.

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OceanPoet87@reddit

Its not something you can worry about. Grew up 5 minutes from an active faultline near SF that hadn't had a qauke in over a century and a half but is overdue. You get 2 or 3 point qaukes maybe a handful of times a year. You strap down the bookshelves or tvs and just make a plan for a qauke.

Honestly the biggest thing is being used to city noises so that it takes a little bit of time before you realize it is actually a qauke. I once played a Simpsons GameCube game during a 4 pointer (strong enough that is is identified as a qauke but usually not enough to cause damage) and didn't bother getting up.

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SquiggleBox23@reddit

I don't really worry about it. Large shelves should be attached to the walls anyway, not just for earthquakes, but other than that I don't consider earthquakes when arranging my home. I do, however, have an emergency plan and evacuation kit. But, again, those are good to have for other emergencies too, not just earthquakes.

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BB-56_Washington@reddit

Not very much. I never thought of earthquakes while arranging things around the house. I don't have a lot of things heavy things up high, but that's purely coincidental.

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Ok_Kick_5090@reddit

I don’t worry or think much about it. We do have our bookshelves bolted to the wall. I don’t put anything particularly fragile on them. Most Californians are used to power outages because of fires and winds, so most have emergency supplies like lots of extra water, gas, generators, propane tanks, alternative sources of energy, extra food, camping gear etc.

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