The First 60 Seconds of an Earthquake

Almost every indoor case resolves to one action. The value of knowing it in advance is that you do not spend the first seconds deciding.

Indoors — stay in

Do not run outside or into another room. Drop to your hands and knees, cover your head and neck, and get under a sturdy table if one is within reach. Move only the short distance needed to get clear of glass or something heavy that can fall.

Then hold on to your cover and move with it if it shifts. Stay away from windows, glass, tall furniture and anything hanging.

If no table is nearby

Get low beside an interior wall or low furniture that will not fall on you, and cover your head and neck with your arms and hands. Do not stand in a doorway — a modern doorway is no stronger than the rest of the structure, and getting to it means moving through the exact hazards you are trying to avoid.

If you are in bed

Stay there. Protect your head and neck with a pillow. Getting up in the dark is how people put bare feet into broken glass — which is the whole argument for keeping sturdy shoes and a flashlight beside the bed before anything happens.

Outdoors — stay out

Move to an open area away from buildings, exterior walls, trees, streetlights and utility lines, then drop low and stay there until the shaking stops. The hazard outdoors is almost entirely things falling off buildings, so distance from the building is the whole objective.

Driving

Pull over safely, away from bridges, overpasses, power lines, signs and buildings. Set the parking brake and stay in the vehicle until the shaking ends. Afterwards, avoid damaged roads and follow official traffic instructions.

In a high-rise

Stay in the building. Move away from windows and outside walls, then Drop, Cover, and Hold On. Do not use the lifts. Expect alarms, sprinklers and power loss — none of those mean you should be moving during the shaking. Use stairs only after it stops and conditions have been checked.

When the shaking stops

Check for injuries and immediate hazards, and expect aftershocks. If the building is damaged, leave by the stairs and do not go back in until authorities or qualified inspectors say it is safe.

Use a flashlight rather than a match or a lighter — if gas is leaking, a flame is the second disaster.

Near the coast, add one step

Strong or long shaking near the coast is itself a natural tsunami warning. Once you can move safely, go inland or to higher ground on the posted route, without waiting for a phone alert. A nearby tsunami can arrive before any alert does.

Practise it once today

Pick the safe spot in every room and run a one-minute household drill. That is the entire exercise — and it is the difference between knowing the sequence and performing it while the floor moves.