Well the Fireside on March 19th was well attended. It was nice to hear Earthquake facts rather than hype or rumors. I hope you'll take some time to look through the publication at BeReady Utah.com that was recommened by our Speaker Dr Gerber: Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country
If you missed the Fireside, here are just a few things to remember:
Duck Cover and Hold
- DUCK or DROP down on the floor.
- Take COVER under a sturdy desk, table, or other furniture. If that is not possible, seek cover against an interior wall and protect your head and neck with your arms. Avoid danger spots near windows, hanging objects, mirrors or tall furniture.
- If you take cover under a sturdy piece of furniture, HOLD on to it and be prepared to move it. Hold the position until the ground stops shaking and it is safe to move.
Practice turning off your electricity and water. Know how to turn off the gas, but do not practice this step. In the event of an earthquake, once you turn off your gas, only your utility company should turn it back on for safety reasons.
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW:
HIGH-RISE BUILDING, move against an interior wall if you are not near a desk or table. Protect your head and neck with your arms. Do not use the elevators.
OUTDOORS, move to a clear area away from trees, signs, buildings, or downed electrical wires and poles.
on a SIDEWALK NEAR BUILDINGS, duck into a doorway to protect yourself from falling bricks, glass, plaster and other debris.
DRIVING, pull over to the side of the road and stop. Avoid overpasses and power lines. Stay inside your vehicle until the shaking stops.
CROWDED STORE OR OTHER PUBLIC PLACE, move away from display shelves containing objects that could fall. Do not rush for the exit.
in a STADIUM OR THEATER, stay in your seat, get below the level of the back of the seat and cover your head and neck with your arms.
Showing posts with label Earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earthquake. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22
Thursday, February 24
Earthquakes continued....
Does the age and structure of the buildings make a difference in how well you withstand an earthquake? I'm sure it does! HOWEVER, do you really want to count on that being your safeguard? I don't!!! Even if my house is standing OK can I really watch my friends and neighbors suffer because their house didn't survive the disaster?
Here's something to think about: In a conversation with a friend who lived through one of CA's bigger earthquakes we asked her where her family stayed for those next few weeks after the earthquake demolished their house. Her reply was - oh with a neighbor! When we questioned that confusing comment she explained "Not all the houses on the street went down. It was a hit and miss with some left standing just fine!" ???
OK - so that's a new picture for me to think about. I think we need to take this seriously - not fearfully - just prepared as though it IS going to happen. In our CERT class we were taught that if we prepare for an earthquake we'll be pretty much prepared for everything else. So let's do it!
So what do we need to do to be prepared? Well start by getting CERT trained. classes are taught thriugh the fire stations all over the couentry and in our Utah County area we can enroll in Accelerated classes through AVERT. see the rit side bar for the schedule.
More about the New Zealand Earthquake
Here's something to think about: In a conversation with a friend who lived through one of CA's bigger earthquakes we asked her where her family stayed for those next few weeks after the earthquake demolished their house. Her reply was - oh with a neighbor! When we questioned that confusing comment she explained "Not all the houses on the street went down. It was a hit and miss with some left standing just fine!" ???
OK - so that's a new picture for me to think about. I think we need to take this seriously - not fearfully - just prepared as though it IS going to happen. In our CERT class we were taught that if we prepare for an earthquake we'll be pretty much prepared for everything else. So let's do it!
So what do we need to do to be prepared? Well start by getting CERT trained. classes are taught thriugh the fire stations all over the couentry and in our Utah County area we can enroll in Accelerated classes through AVERT. see the rit side bar for the schedule.
More about the New Zealand Earthquake
Monday, February 21
Earthquake Month
Since we're talking about earthquakes right now, I thought it would be approrpriate to take a look at what a 6.3 Quake did to New Zealand on Tuesday (still Monday for us in my neighborhood!). When the forecasted "big one" hits the Utah fault line it could be 7.0 or greater!!!
You can read about it here!
We can be ready friends. Let's not live in fear. Lets live in peace by knowing that we have prepared!
Saturday, February 12
Thursday, February 3
Earthquakes #2
I thought this was VERY interesting. These gals at http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/ held a 7 Day Challenge last Sept and one day was about earthquake preparedness. This is what they had to say on their website:
One of the days we practiced living through an earthquake. What were some of the things our readers said they wish they had after "practicing" this scenario? Here are just a few:
- I need to get my cars prepped for emergencies, I have nothing but booster cables in them
- Get a family size tent to use until home is declared safe
- Have shovel and bar of some sort for clearing the road
- Have more crafts and activities ready
- I need a good supply of fuel and extra water to cook with
- We need a few more flashlights, car emergency kits, some non gas lanterns would also be nice I used the last of the charcoal and so I will have to find something else to cook with tomorrow I'm going to try out our portable camp stove that we have, but never used, to make sure it works and find yummy recipes my kids like
- Will try to work on getting a generator
- Having an extra propane tank just in case, and the shovel
- Shovel for the car and some MRE's More tin foil, tarps, staple gun, duct tape, more germex, chain saw I need to do some serious work to prepare for an earthquake
- Finding some games to play (simple ones) but we did have fun talking about old times
- Probably store some wood for camp fire style cooking
- Have 4 pages of a "to do list" and to buy list
- Buy more paper products, washing dishes by hand and heating the water is SO MUCH WORK
- If there is a real earthquake I will need to secure the tall shelves in my garage to the wall so they won't fall over
- Must have 3 month food supply in place sooner I'd like my water easier to get to, it is in 30 gallon barrels, and the pump is not very reliable - I need my strong husband and sons for it
Wednesday, February 2
Be Informed! - Earthquakes
The Be Ready Lehi Emergency Preparedness Program has 3 basic steps:
1. Have a Kit.
2. Get a plan.
3. Be informed!
I feel like I've alienated most of my neighbors with my talk of Kits and Plans (check out the archives list if you want a review) so during the upcoming weeks I'll be a little more focused on Be Informed. In my thinking - the priority focus should be on Earthquakes. In March, I hope everyone will support a fireside about preparing for an earthquake - more details to come. But as jumping off point I thought this would be a good place to start:
1. Have a Kit.
2. Get a plan.
3. Be informed!
I feel like I've alienated most of my neighbors with my talk of Kits and Plans (check out the archives list if you want a review) so during the upcoming weeks I'll be a little more focused on Be Informed. In my thinking - the priority focus should be on Earthquakes. In March, I hope everyone will support a fireside about preparing for an earthquake - more details to come. But as jumping off point I thought this would be a good place to start:
Tuesday, October 12
Earthquakes
Today I have posted some very interesting notes that came from a special presentation that was given in Lindon last month. It was a part of their Emergency training education. I will work on getting it nto a little more convenient reading format in the weeks to come (when my life slows down just a bit) but until then it will be well worth going over the information about the 13 Lessons learned from an Earthquake Disaster.
Monday, September 13
Earthquakes - Again
You're probably aware of the earthquake in New Zealand. None of us want to THINK about earthquakes or any other type of devastation but the old adage - "forewarned is forearmed" (if you know about something before it happens, you can be prepared for it ) is so applicable to this situation. My greatest motivation to get up and do something about emergency preparedness is the vision of my family being hungry during the greatest moment of disaster - the time that we really do need some sort of comfort. Being in the middle of a disaster messes with your thinking and it becomes hard to function - that's why we prepare!
I wanted to share this link with you - it's not necessarily entertaining but it really gives you something to think about. I hope you'll take the 10 minutes or so to hear what this woman is describing.
General Debate - 8th Sept, 2010 - Part 5
Tuesday, April 6
What can I do today about Earthquakes!
So rather than stressing about earthquakes...do something about being prepared - even if you don't have the money right now:
Put a flashlight by each bed!
Keep sturdy shoes next to your bed. One of the biggest problems following an earthquake is that people go running through their house to find all their loved ones and they're not wearing shoes so they cut up the bottoms of their feet - now they're part of the problem and not the solution.
Establish an out of state contact person and a meeting place outside the home for your family.
Move your bed away from windows and take down anything from the walls that can fall onto you while sleeping.
Learn how to turn off your gas and water lines. So you just had an earthquake - don't let your house blow up too! And the water? If you use the water when there's been a break in the lines, the sewer will bubble back up into your sinks and tubs. When you flush the potty or drain water down the sinks it opens up a valve in the lines that allows stuff to back up into your house's system! YUCK!
Gather some stuff that you would want with you when you evacuate your home. Your important papers, drinking water, some granola bars and/or jerky, your meds, clean underwear, deodorant, a toothbrush and toothpaste, baby wipes, cash - small denominations and coins, a comb, (maybe some make-up! seriously!) etc. Then put them in an old backpack, a small suitcase, or a plastic bag if you have to. You can add to and upgrade later but at least you have these for "grab and go" if you need them tonight!
Put a flashlight by each bed!
Keep sturdy shoes next to your bed. One of the biggest problems following an earthquake is that people go running through their house to find all their loved ones and they're not wearing shoes so they cut up the bottoms of their feet - now they're part of the problem and not the solution.
Establish an out of state contact person and a meeting place outside the home for your family.
Move your bed away from windows and take down anything from the walls that can fall onto you while sleeping.
Learn how to turn off your gas and water lines. So you just had an earthquake - don't let your house blow up too! And the water? If you use the water when there's been a break in the lines, the sewer will bubble back up into your sinks and tubs. When you flush the potty or drain water down the sinks it opens up a valve in the lines that allows stuff to back up into your house's system! YUCK!
Gather some stuff that you would want with you when you evacuate your home. Your important papers, drinking water, some granola bars and/or jerky, your meds, clean underwear, deodorant, a toothbrush and toothpaste, baby wipes, cash - small denominations and coins, a comb, (maybe some make-up! seriously!) etc. Then put them in an old backpack, a small suitcase, or a plastic bag if you have to. You can add to and upgrade later but at least you have these for "grab and go" if you need them tonight!
Sunday, March 7
Experts say Utah's a quake zone
This is an article linked to a report that came on the 10:00 news following the Academy Awards.
Experts say Utah's a quake zone
Saturday, February 27
Earthquakes REALLY DO Happen!
The earthquake researchers tell us that we are now overdo for a BIG earthquake along the Wasatch fault line (our neighborhood). They expect it to be 8.0 or higher - just like the one that has hit Chile this morning and bigger than the one that hit Haiti. Does your family know what to do when this happens?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_chile_earthquake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtBXTvtFaCU&feature=channel
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_chile_earthquake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtBXTvtFaCU&feature=channel
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/
Saturday, January 16
Earthquakes on our mind! SL Tribune Article
Major earthquake would devastate Salt Lake area
Disaster » A stockpile of food and water is crucial for survival.
By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/16/2010 01:54:52 PM MST
The ground starts shaking so violently that you struggle to stand -- and understand what's going on.
You're plunged into darkness. The sound of shattering glass as picture frames and vases fall to the floor adds to the cacophony.
You realize it's an earthquake, and your elementary-school training kicks in. You stumble underneath a table as a huge plume of dust and debris shoots out of your fireplace and the chimney crumbles outside.
Suddenly, everything is eerily still.
But it's the aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake in Salt Lake County that would be the real devastator.
You walk outside and start to take in the damage to your home and neighborhood.
Homes and buildings are leveled. You hear people screaming for help and crying. The electricity is out. Water isn't flowing. You smell natural gas in the air. Fires are beginning to erupt.
About 65,000 homes and businesses are older brick structures made from unreinforced masonry, meaning a large quake would collapse older multi-story buildings while single-story, newer structures would lose chimneys and walls above the roof line.
Ron Reaveley, structural engineer at Reaveley Engineers, has retrofitted buildings such as the Utah Capitol, the Mormon Tabernacle and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to withstand a major seismic event. He has assessed about 300 buildings in Salt Lake City's downtown, and there are several that will likely crumble.
Particularly hard hit will be multi-story edifices built in the 1920s and '30s, which he says could be leveled. Unreinforced masonry buildings that are single story and built in the 1950s will fare better, and more recent structures should remain largely intact.
"When we get our major earthquake," Reaveley said, "it's going to be a pretty big wake-up call."
Depending on what time of day, the numbers vary, but in the nine counties along the Wasatch Fault, the death toll would be about 2,500 people, while about 2,000 would suffer life-threatening injuries. About 35,000 people would experience less-severe injuries, according to Bob Carey, earthquake program manager for the Utah Division of Homeland Security.
In most earthquakes, it's not the shaking that does the bulk of the damage, but fires that start afterward, said Jim Pechmann, a seismologist at University of Utah Seismograph Stations.
"My wood-frame house may survive the earthquake, but then it might burn down afterward," Pechmann said, adding that disrupted water flow would impede firefighters' ability to douse the flames.
It would take about a month to restore 80 percent of the state's power grid and about 90 days to get drinkable water flowing again. It would take longer, Carey warned, to check sewer pipes for damage.
New gas lines are being wrapped in shock-absorbing foam to help prevent them from rupturing, but not all pipes are secured.
That's according to the dozens of earthquake scenarios Carey runs to speed response and recovery efforts.
Carey realizes that it's not a matter of if a large-magnitude earthquake strikes Utah, but rather when. He and his team are working on disaster-preparation plans with the federal government, and he's attempting to determine what areas would be hardest hit and would need the most aid.
Disaster preparedness is key, Carey said, and the message is the same for the entire state: Federal resources likely won't arrive for days, and with electricity and potable water out of the picture, it's up to Utahns to be prepared with 72-hour kits and food and water storage.
"People must take responsibility to make themselves better prepared," Carey said. "In a disaster, the bigger it gets, the more dependent you'll be upon your resources and the resources of your neighborhood until assistance can be brought by the government."
And with bridges collapsing, anyone needing to cross the Jordan River better have a boat, he said.
But even after fires stop, power is restored, the injured are healed and the dead are mourned, it would take at least two years to get Utah's economic engine cranking again. A massive economic depression would hit the area after businesses are devastated and homes destroyed or damaged, Carey said.
Reconstructing an estimated $35.5 billion in damage to homes, businesses and government buildings would help kick-start the economy, but many businesses would never recover, especially if they weren't insured.
"Something like this can be a community killer," Carey said. "Bigger communities a lot of times can absorb this, but, as we've seen in Kansas, where tornadoes wiped out whole towns, they never recover."
The probability of such a massive seismic event happening in Utah in the next 50 years is 5 percent to 10 percent, the U.'s Pechmann said, which might sound low, but to a seismologist it is not.
"Everyone focuses on the big one, but we're more likely to get damage from moderate-sized earthquake," Pechmann said, adding that a 5.5 or greater magnitude quake happens every 10 years in Utah and once every 20 years in the Wasatch Front region.
But when the big one comes, it's going to be rough.
"Earthquakes are a threat here in Utah as well as the rest of the world, and we know we are going to get damaging ones in the future," Pechmann said. "It's something that everybody who lives in the state should be prepared for."
Disaster » A stockpile of food and water is crucial for survival.
By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/16/2010 01:54:52 PM MST
The ground starts shaking so violently that you struggle to stand -- and understand what's going on.
You're plunged into darkness. The sound of shattering glass as picture frames and vases fall to the floor adds to the cacophony.
You realize it's an earthquake, and your elementary-school training kicks in. You stumble underneath a table as a huge plume of dust and debris shoots out of your fireplace and the chimney crumbles outside.
Suddenly, everything is eerily still.
But it's the aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake in Salt Lake County that would be the real devastator.
You walk outside and start to take in the damage to your home and neighborhood.
Homes and buildings are leveled. You hear people screaming for help and crying. The electricity is out. Water isn't flowing. You smell natural gas in the air. Fires are beginning to erupt.
About 65,000 homes and businesses are older brick structures made from unreinforced masonry, meaning a large quake would collapse older multi-story buildings while single-story, newer structures would lose chimneys and walls above the roof line.
Ron Reaveley, structural engineer at Reaveley Engineers, has retrofitted buildings such as the Utah Capitol, the Mormon Tabernacle and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to withstand a major seismic event. He has assessed about 300 buildings in Salt Lake City's downtown, and there are several that will likely crumble.
Particularly hard hit will be multi-story edifices built in the 1920s and '30s, which he says could be leveled. Unreinforced masonry buildings that are single story and built in the 1950s will fare better, and more recent structures should remain largely intact.
"When we get our major earthquake," Reaveley said, "it's going to be a pretty big wake-up call."
Depending on what time of day, the numbers vary, but in the nine counties along the Wasatch Fault, the death toll would be about 2,500 people, while about 2,000 would suffer life-threatening injuries. About 35,000 people would experience less-severe injuries, according to Bob Carey, earthquake program manager for the Utah Division of Homeland Security.
In most earthquakes, it's not the shaking that does the bulk of the damage, but fires that start afterward, said Jim Pechmann, a seismologist at University of Utah Seismograph Stations.
"My wood-frame house may survive the earthquake, but then it might burn down afterward," Pechmann said, adding that disrupted water flow would impede firefighters' ability to douse the flames.
It would take about a month to restore 80 percent of the state's power grid and about 90 days to get drinkable water flowing again. It would take longer, Carey warned, to check sewer pipes for damage.
New gas lines are being wrapped in shock-absorbing foam to help prevent them from rupturing, but not all pipes are secured.
That's according to the dozens of earthquake scenarios Carey runs to speed response and recovery efforts.
Carey realizes that it's not a matter of if a large-magnitude earthquake strikes Utah, but rather when. He and his team are working on disaster-preparation plans with the federal government, and he's attempting to determine what areas would be hardest hit and would need the most aid.
Disaster preparedness is key, Carey said, and the message is the same for the entire state: Federal resources likely won't arrive for days, and with electricity and potable water out of the picture, it's up to Utahns to be prepared with 72-hour kits and food and water storage.
"People must take responsibility to make themselves better prepared," Carey said. "In a disaster, the bigger it gets, the more dependent you'll be upon your resources and the resources of your neighborhood until assistance can be brought by the government."
And with bridges collapsing, anyone needing to cross the Jordan River better have a boat, he said.
But even after fires stop, power is restored, the injured are healed and the dead are mourned, it would take at least two years to get Utah's economic engine cranking again. A massive economic depression would hit the area after businesses are devastated and homes destroyed or damaged, Carey said.
Reconstructing an estimated $35.5 billion in damage to homes, businesses and government buildings would help kick-start the economy, but many businesses would never recover, especially if they weren't insured.
"Something like this can be a community killer," Carey said. "Bigger communities a lot of times can absorb this, but, as we've seen in Kansas, where tornadoes wiped out whole towns, they never recover."
The probability of such a massive seismic event happening in Utah in the next 50 years is 5 percent to 10 percent, the U.'s Pechmann said, which might sound low, but to a seismologist it is not.
"Everyone focuses on the big one, but we're more likely to get damage from moderate-sized earthquake," Pechmann said, adding that a 5.5 or greater magnitude quake happens every 10 years in Utah and once every 20 years in the Wasatch Front region.
But when the big one comes, it's going to be rough.
"Earthquakes are a threat here in Utah as well as the rest of the world, and we know we are going to get damaging ones in the future," Pechmann said. "It's something that everybody who lives in the state should be prepared for."
Thursday, May 28
Mock Disaster Drill in Orem
I didn't know about this - did you? Luckily I came across a blog with lots of info about a local mock disaster drill. I sure hope you take some time to look it over. Mock Drill
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