The first second
The floor lifts a quarter inch and drops. The walls move in a direction they have never moved in before. You feel it before you understand it. Your body wants to run toward the doorway. Your body is wrong.
The instinct to run is the most common way people get hurt in earthquakes. The most dangerous place during shaking is the strip of ground right outside a building, where the facade has started to come apart. The second most dangerous is a doorway, which does not protect you from falling debris and pins you in place when the building shifts.
There is one protocol. The United States Geological Survey, the American Red Cross, and every certified earthquake early-warning system in the world recommend the same three words. Drop, Cover, Hold On.
Drop, Cover, Hold On
- 1Drop to your hands and knees. The shaking cannot knock you down if you are already down. You can crawl from this position.
- 2Cover your head and neck with one arm. Crawl under a sturdy desk, table, or bench. If there is no shelter within a few feet, crawl against an interior wall and cover your head and neck with both arms.
- 3Hold On to your shelter with one hand. If the table moves, move with it. Stay in position until the shaking stops completely and you have counted ten seconds of stillness.
Where you are when it happens
The protocol changes depending on where your body is when the ground starts moving. Read these once now so you do not have to decide later.
If you are inside a building. Stay inside. Drop, Cover, Hold On. Do not try to get outside during the shaking. Do not stand in a doorway. Do not take stairs while the building is moving.
If you are outside. Move to an open area away from buildings, trees, streetlights, and power lines. Drop to the ground, cover your head, stay there. The danger outside is not the ground. It is glass and masonry falling from the buildings around you.
If you are in a car. Pull over in an open area. Avoid overpasses, bridges, power lines, and building overhangs. Set the parking brake. Stay inside with your seatbelt on. The car's suspension absorbs part of the shaking. The car is a better shelter than the space outside it.
If you are near the coast. After the shaking stops, move to higher ground immediately. A coastal earthquake is a tsunami warning. You do not have time to wait for a siren. If the ground shook hard enough to knock you down, assume a wave is coming.
After the shaking stops
The shaking has stopped. The danger has not. Aftershocks can follow within minutes and can be nearly as strong as the original. Structural damage is not always visible. Gas lines may have ruptured. Move carefully.
- 1Check yourself and others for injury. Provide first aid before moving anyone with a potential spinal injury.
- 2Check for gas. If you smell it or hear hissing, leave the building. Do not use a light switch or a phone inside. Call 911 from a safe distance.
- 3Expect aftershocks. Drop, Cover, Hold On each time. They can last for days or weeks.
- 4Do not use elevators. Take stairs. If you are trapped, tap on a pipe so rescuers can hear you. Avoid shouting if you can. Dust is a real risk.
You do not rise to the occasion. You fall to your training.
Test Your Response
You are working at your desk on the third floor of an office building when the ground starts shaking violently. Items are falling off shelves, the lights are flickering, and coworkers are shouting. The exit stairwell is about 30 feet away. What should you do?
Be honest. No one's watching.
Why this page is here
There is a specific moment I come back to. A floor that lifted a quarter inch and dropped. A hallway that stopped being familiar. A few seconds where my body decided faster than my mind could. I got lucky. That is the only reason I am writing this.
Everyone thinks they will remember what to do. Most people will run. The ones who do the right thing are the ones who practiced it once, long before the floor lifted.
The United States Geological Survey reports that most non-fatal earthquake injuries are caused by falling and flying objects inside buildings, and by debris from exteriors right outside exits [1]. The American Red Cross and every certified early-warning program in the world recommend Drop, Cover, Hold On as the single action that reduces both injury and death [2].
When it happens again
The floor will lift again. Your body will want to run. Your body will be wrong, and you will know it.