As I am sure you have seen the horrific news in Japan with the earthquakes and tsunami.
I am from Christchurch, New Zealand where we recently had a earthquake that killed nearly 200 people. To date we have had over 5,000 aftershocks.
Our first earthquake was on September 4th, with a magnitude of 7.1. We recovered well and started picking up the pieces. We were fortunate that there was no loss of life.
Our second one was on December 26th, a shallow M4.9, causing more damage to the city but no loss of life.
Then on February 22nd, I was just preparing to go into the city to organise something for work but I was running late. I am glad because at 12:51pm, we had a M6.3 earthquake that was just over the hill from where I live. Imagine a peanut on a drum and the drum was being banged on violently, causing the peanut to move around. That is what the house felt like.
In the first earthquake, we were not prepared - we had no emergency water supplies, no large amount of canned food, etcetera.
Fortunately, we learned from this initial earthquake what we needed and this time around, we were prepared. I am glad that I was prepared because we had to endure 15 days without power.
I think it is important to be prepared - people do become complacent and think that it won't happen to them.
Anything can happen anywhere.
Are you prepared?
It is always a good idea to have a container filled with items such as: bottled water - they recommend 3 litres a day per person, canned food, batteries, flashlights (I found the flashlights that go on your head to be most useful), cat food, baby wipes, first aid kit for any injuries, chemical toilet (which we received free from the city council yesterday!), a spade to dig a hole to create your own toilet if the sewage system is munted, gas cooker, gas bottles for the cooker, a gas tank for the barbeque as it comes in handy, a gas heater, a radio, toilet paper, dust masks, can opener.
Are you prepared? Please do be prepared. It will save you further agony as going for long periods of time without power and water is hard and quite stressful.
I am from Christchurch, New Zealand where we recently had a earthquake that killed nearly 200 people. To date we have had over 5,000 aftershocks.
Our first earthquake was on September 4th, with a magnitude of 7.1. We recovered well and started picking up the pieces. We were fortunate that there was no loss of life.
Our second one was on December 26th, a shallow M4.9, causing more damage to the city but no loss of life.
Then on February 22nd, I was just preparing to go into the city to organise something for work but I was running late. I am glad because at 12:51pm, we had a M6.3 earthquake that was just over the hill from where I live. Imagine a peanut on a drum and the drum was being banged on violently, causing the peanut to move around. That is what the house felt like.
In the first earthquake, we were not prepared - we had no emergency water supplies, no large amount of canned food, etcetera.
Fortunately, we learned from this initial earthquake what we needed and this time around, we were prepared. I am glad that I was prepared because we had to endure 15 days without power.
I think it is important to be prepared - people do become complacent and think that it won't happen to them.
Anything can happen anywhere.
Are you prepared?
It is always a good idea to have a container filled with items such as: bottled water - they recommend 3 litres a day per person, canned food, batteries, flashlights (I found the flashlights that go on your head to be most useful), cat food, baby wipes, first aid kit for any injuries, chemical toilet (which we received free from the city council yesterday!), a spade to dig a hole to create your own toilet if the sewage system is munted, gas cooker, gas bottles for the cooker, a gas tank for the barbeque as it comes in handy, a gas heater, a radio, toilet paper, dust masks, can opener.
Are you prepared? Please do be prepared. It will save you further agony as going for long periods of time without power and water is hard and quite stressful.