Did you run outside during the Earthquake? You should have stayed put.

I'm kind of aghast to see video of people quickly leaving buildings during the shaking itself. Don't misunderstand me, going outside AFTER the shaking stops and when you have a safe path outside is a good idea. But that's not DURING an earthquake.

Growing up and living in California, we were taught as children, and continue to do earthquake drills now --to get under something until the shaking stops.

When you attempt to run or walk from inside to outside during a strong earthquake, you are likely taking a far larger risk than staying put and taking cover:

1) you can fall on stairs or even a smooth floor when there's violent shaking
2) you can be struck by objects inside or out, more so when you're walking or running
3) as you exit a building during shaking, you may be hit by falling glass, obelisks, utility wires, etc.

In all likelihood, you can't outrun a building collapse in an earthquake, and they are rare to begin with. So, stay put, protect your neck with your hands, get away from windows or glass and large objects above you.

Also, keep in mind, you can't judge how strong an earthquake is by how strongly the shaking begins. Many start out mild, leading you to discount the need to take cover, but in fact, whenever there's shaking you should measuredly begin to move for cover --if it's small it will be over before you do, if it's large it will still be going and will have been a good idea if the shaking continues or grows stronger.


===========================

What to Do During an Earthquake

Stay as safe as possible during an earthquake. Be aware that some earthquakes are actually foreshocks and a larger earthquake might occur. Minimize your movements to a few steps to a nearby safe place and if you are indoors, stay there until the shaking has stopped and you are sure exiting is safe.
If indoors

DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.
Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.
Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.
Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.
DO NOT use the elevators.

If outdoors

Stay there.
Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.
Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits and alongside exterior walls. Many of the 120 fatalities from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred when people ran outside of buildings only to be killed by falling debris from collapsing walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.

If in a moving vehicle

Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires.
Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped. Avoid roads, bridges, or ramps that might have been damaged by the earthquake.

If trapped under debris

Do not light a match.
Do not move about or kick up dust.
Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.


http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_during.shtm

:hi:

Are there a lot of obelisks in earthquake-prone areas?

TlalocW

and hell, whatever falls on you doesn't care how unique it is.

the point remains that during shaking, things may be falling and by running, you're exposing yourself right at the moment when they are most likely to be falling. better to stay under cover during the shaking and move at a safer moment.

:shrug:

;)

Edit: It's a great public service OP, really. Kicked & rec'ed. Just also made me chuckle.

don't stand under this either:



:rofl:

The National Cathedral has them. Many old buildings have them. An earthquake can happen anywhere, even in non-prone areas and if you're running and under a falling object, you won't be winning any arguments you start with gravity. :rofl:

during the Northridge quake when the building's roof or upper floors pancaked down.

If in bed, calmly get out of bed and lie on the floor right next to the bed. If things collapse, you will have the structure of the bed to keep large debris off you.

the kids jumping around the house. Seriously! LOL (Was only a baby tremor. 3 something maybe?)

stayed inside during the shaking. Building was evacuated for a brief period (long enough for the engineers to say the roof and the walls weren't about to collapse probably). I work in a one-story building designed to withstand a cat 5 hurricane - luckily it withstood this 5.9 earthquake!

Thank you for the information - it's helpful! Several of my co-workers grew up in California and were able to tell the rest of us what to do...

I've had that hammered into my head and it's a good thing to remember. Of course, if you're out in the meadow and the ground opens up beneath you...:shrug:

The reality is, when it occurs it's almost surreal as your mind scrambles to figure out what's happening, and often by the time you get a grasp, it's over. But reading guidelines like this, if we remember and are able to process, are so valuable.

Good post! That fight or flight instinct kicks in and it's hard to ignore so we flee.

was one of the most gentle I've ever felt! We were taking bets about what it would come in at, and most people were waaaaaay below the final designation. So, good point! :7 :hi:

I was in 7th grade in class and it started as gentle but substantial swaying/back and forth motions and I remember us kids looking at each other and the teacher saying things like,

"wow, this one is really moving, maybe we should get under something"

and the teacher saying, "okay, yeah get under your desks...and we're like, 'what about you?'"

and he said, "yeah, good idea" as he was looking up at the ceiling with concern.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Morgan_Hill_earthquake

and was preparing to go yell at them. When it turned out to be a quake, I ran to my kids' room to grab them and get them to a safe place and the motion of the quake kept pushing me in the wrong direction. That one really did move.

when you have time to do all that during an earthquake, that tells you how long it's lasting.

First it sounded like three kids up there, then like 25 stormtroopers. It was also my mom's first quake with none of us at home, so I drove to her house in the neighborhood as soon as it sort of stopped and picked her up. She was out on the patio clutching one of the roof supports and yelling about "the big one". Poor Mom. lol

an earthquake. Frankly the first thing I thought of was to get out of the building. By the time I figured out it was an earthquake, it was over.

but in retrospect, is that the best thing?

me was crying (she had surgery last week), and I thought she was in pain. As the shaking became more pronounced, I realized it wasn't her. Cheap cubicles, I guess!!!

Then I thought it was a low flying helicopter, but then I couldn't see it and as the shaking became even more pronounced, I realized that it was an earthquake. A couple of random thoughts then went through my head for the next 15 seconds or so, and then it was over.

Then with at least 10 engineers and architects in our office, we spent the afternoon disecting what had happened!!

that it's never experienced before, so we mentally go through a list. That's probably why those of who have experienced several RECOGNIZE what it is more quickly. The fight or flight instinct is still there to a degree, though -- makes sense. And they usually ARE over that quickly even though they seem like an eternity because you don't know what's coming next and your brain is still calculating, processing. The longest I've been in was around 50 seconds, and it seemed like it kept going and going and going.

Glad you're all okay! Demand new "earthquake proof" cubicles! :7

tall buildings but instead of going to safety they were standing right along side of them. If they would have collapsed they would have been buried or if the did not collapse they could still be hit by falling bricks.

during the Nisqually quake, i was surrounded by heavy racks full of equipment. as the ground below us liquified and we started seeing cracks open up in the floor, we got the hell out of there.
that building is no more, it was shaken off its foundations.

or do you leave it off because of the possibility your car could drive into a lake?

same logic.

Morgan Hill Earthquake, 1984, and after spending tens of seconds under a desk, a co worker (also under a desk) yelled: "Do you realize the air conditioning units over our heads weigh two tons?"

We immediately ran outside the building. The earthquake lasted much longer than the reported six seconds - we had time to take cover, discuss what to do and run outside.

The building was not much more than a large tin can, and I was very surprised that nothing fell from it or that the building itself didn't collapse.

Oh, and then Shackley, who had gotten a Nobel Prize for his work in electronics, came out of his office, walked out to the parking lot, and admonished what amounted to the entire work force. "Get back inside and start working! The quake is over."

Apparently the man had never heard of after shocks. We workers mumbled, grumbled and went back in.

The other thing was that our entire division did eighty percent of our work by using the telephone, which didn't work till well after we left for home that evening! I think Mr Shackley's "genius" was prettyt much confined to electronics and not geology, tectonics or human psychology.

now doubting that every ceiling has an a/c unit over their heads that will surely kill them even if they're under a desk.

is that really what you're suggesting? this thread is all about advice and the advice i've shared is what professionals recommend and what you're saying says that they're wrong.

First running outside wasn't smart. Those AC units? Not exactly rolling around loose on the roof. However, the windows can easily break and fall on people running outside the building. Not to mention all the other stuff that can fall off the outside of the building.

Anyway, the "2 ton" A/C units don't actually weigh two tons. A ton of A/C power is a measure of how much heat it can transfer. 1 ton of A/C power is 12,000 BTU...not the weight of the unit.

The central A/C units you see outside people's houses that can be carried by two people? They're 2 to 5 ton units. The smallest window A/C at Wal-Mart is 1/2 a ton...but one person can carry it because it weighs about 40 lbs.

If the thing hanging over my head didn't weight two tons, it could have fooled me. It was the size of a mid sized car.

The quonset hut structure did some good things - it swayed back and forth while the ground shook under our feet. (The worst thing is to be inside a brick building.) There were no doorways anywhere nearby. Nada. All I knew was I felt safer leaving than staying.

I had been in other quakes, in other buildings. During those, I took shelter in the doorway. That option was not available.

I left Silicon Valley about one year later. That experience, along with the heavy air pollution, was a good part of my rationale for leaving.

If thats true then why not get the hell out before the larger one hits?

Im grabbing my cell phone, passport, and wallet and getting the fuck out. Its human nature to flee danger.

The danger comes from being right outside the building.

You are fleeing from mild danger (building collapse is actually quite rare) into great danger (stuff falling from the outside of the building and landing on people is extremely common).

I will take my chances and try to get out.

If you want to risk your life stupidly, that's your call.

However, in a panic situation like that, people will follow you because you're doing something. If they die, it will be your fault because you knew better.

Now, go get on a boat so you can ride out Irene out on the water, where it's safe. You wouldn't want to be in a building. It might collapse.

are you happy now?

Some sway like jello and others jump up and down. Some you can hear coming like a truck that suddenly strikes the building and the earthquake is over.

The swaying kind are probably the least dangerous because the building move with the ground. The ones that jump up and down will cause building to fall down and thereby lies the danger. The kind you hear coming are very short and end in a final bump so you really have no time to react.

There are places, like Mexico City where there are earthquakes every day. Of course, most of them are tiny and short.

the surface waves (the ones that feel like swaying or rolling) are even more dangerous because those are the ones that send taller building swaying and reach the breaking point at which time they come down. I saw a documentary on it, I think on the CBC.

I've only ever felt one earthquake. I was living in northern BC when Alaska was hit by an 8-point-something. I was pregnant and suddenly started to feel like my chair was swaying. I gave my daughter heck, told her to stop pushing on my chair and she insisted she wasn't touching my chair. I thought maybe I was having a stroke or something given that the room was swaying so much I couldn't stand up when my then-husband yelled from downstairs, "do you feel that?" At that instant I knew it was an earthquake. Boy was I relieved! lol! The swaying went on and on - for a few minutes at least (we stood in the doorways). My hanging plants and pots and pans were swaying like crazy, but luckily nothing fell out of our shelves. My ex was on the phone with his friend who was watching the trees in the forest sway wildly, like waves of wheat in the wind. Since we were not in an earthquake zone I reported it right away, and when I hit refresh, the Alaska quake was shown on the site. So that was one that travelled pretty far. I don't wish to feel one again. It was definitely disconcerting to feel the ground under you move and knock you down. I now live in a place that is as far from earthquakes as you can get (as in, they've never had one).

- and actually had been discussing what we needed to do to prepare for Irene before the earthquake. Some area's here are prone to "sinkholes" and that's what I first thought it was so - yes - I ran outside as I was afraid my house was being swallowed by a sinkhole or was about to collapse.

Now I know . . .

a glass enclosed room. I got out of that room post haste.

Thank you for the tips though, much appreciated.

do emergency responders and experts like it when people die?

did you wake up this morning and become smarter than all of those experts?

find something solid to get under like a desk or well-built table or the door jamb. If you go out on the street where stuff will fall on you, like shattering glass, and you have no place to shelter, you have a bigger chance of dying. A man survived the first Northridge earthquake, where the hospital he was working in collapsed because he got under a cast iron sink. A friend of mine survived a brick fireplace falling on her because she had just enough time to scoot under her brass bed with metal springs. She was trying for the door jamb but didn't have time. Her parents were already there trying to reach her and they survived part of the roof caving in. It took them hours to dig her out even though there were gradually diminishing aftershocks for hours afterwards. Those were the days.

:hi:

Another Californian here who has witnessed almost 70 years of earthquakes both here and in South America.