Often people get scared just thinking about earthquakes and being prepared, and that's not fun, so they don't. Can't blame them. We've wondered how to take fear out of the picture, while empowering the anxious and non-anxious alike.
Essentially, watching events unfold in Japan and the process of putting together the Stand By You and 'Pet Ready' event projects really brought this home for us, and served to reiterate the importance of being prepared in earthquake country.
Since the seismic event date is unknown, it's easy to procrastinate. But please don't: your animals depend on you and need you to be ready. They need you to take care of yourself in an emergency so you can take care of them. And they need a few extra considerations for you to be earthquake prepared for them too.
In return, readiness will reduce your anxiety as well. To help, we will provide action items in digestible steps, including the why and wherefore. If you act on our steps, you'll be ready before you know it. So, set your RSS reader or check in as we post a series of snackable nuggets -- taking earthquake prep one step at a time.
If you're already ready, tune in anyways, since we look at everything through animal-colored glasses and may mention something you'd not thought about before. Worst case scenario, your own thinking is validated and that never hurts anyone.
First thing to know is there are limits. We do not live in a subduction zone, like Japan or Seattle, which is where one tectonic plate is pushing under another. Our faults are strike-slip, where plates rub against each other horizontally, producing less violent events, relatively speaking. ;^) The Hayward fault is expected to top out around Magnitude 7.5(a), while the San Andreas has a max probable Magnitude of 8.3(b). So, in a lot of ways we're lucky, but the point is that it's absolutely possible, and some would argue necessary, to be equipped for a maximum event.
You don't have to do it all at once. You can start to get ready for a basic earthquake, say mid-to-high M6s or low M7s (where M stands for magnitude). You can pretty much bank on these happening, it's just a matter of when. Consider it baseline readiness for living here. Then you can add and get ready for a bigger earthquake, say in the middle M7s, and sleep much better. Once you've got that covered, if you want, you can get ready for the biggest M8 and sleep like a baby knowing you're prepared. Call us crazy, but we want our clients to sleep like a baby knowing they're ready to take care of themselves and their animals, no matter what. To quote Martha, It's a good thing.
We'll start with food and water -> tune in on Thursday!
(a) Steinbrugge et al (1987)
(b) Wesson et. al (1975)