As a visitor how can I prepare for an earthquake, I list some of the tasks that must be addressed, I'm sure there's more.

  I am planning a trip to California, how can I be prepared in case there is an earthquake? It's a common request, I was asked just yesterday that question. We have a lot of company from out of state, my wife is from upstate New York, I was raised in Minnesota, our relatives like to come out during the winter months, we like company. It is a scary proposition, if it's the first time visiting the west coast, I will use the term "West Coast" because California is just one state that is a risk. California is known as the earthquake state, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, (is not a state but it is on the west coast) and Alaska. Of those in recent times Anchorage had a magnitude 9.2 in 1964, San Francisco had a 7.8 in the year 1906.  The Alaska quake was no less than 30 times more powerful than the earthquake of 1906. They were the most powerful, no one is alive today that survived the 1906 earthquake, there are many survivors of the 1964 Anchorage earthquake. Survivors are what keep memories alive when the last survivors are gone, it then changes from a memory to a memorial, then like memories of World War 1, it is written into history.

This is the photo I remember as a 13-year-old, it was on the front
page of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune

  Stories handed down by word of mouth are deemed inaccurate by investigators, I don't share that sentiment, the stories are also downgraded as "Myths" by people alive 400-500 years after the event, for whatever reason. I bring this up for a very important reason, the Alaska earthquake of 1964, and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 are still in our nations collective memory. The Pacific Northwest has not experienced a powerful earthquake in hundreds of years, A magnitude 7.3 struck in the Strait of Georgia on June 23, 1946, a powerful earthquake for sure but 60+ less powerful than the 1964 shaker. My point is that the State of Washington is every bit as likely to have an earthquake as any of the other 3 geographical regions mentioned. Like Californians, people from Oregon and Alaska we have a tendency to "cheapen" the warnings of the eminent "Big One". That may be part of the problem, one I do not know how to avoid, it's the chicken little paradox, people start taking warnings as "the sky is falling". It's a point well taken, the powerful earthquakes occur so very infrequently we (I do for sure) trivialize the warnings. Part of the infrequency of the powerful quakes is the frequency of so many non-powerful earthquakes, we can look on the weather page of the local newspaper and see a map of earthquakes that have occurred in the past 24 hours. Almost all of them are below 5.0 magnitude, we are very familiar with the low-level shakers, which I believe makes us more insensitive to the stronger ones. The report for today April 20, 2018, is as follows:

* Six earthquakes in the past 24 hours (Northern California only)

* 60 in the past 7 days

* 297 earthquakes during the past 30 days

* 4,277 in during the past year
 (follow this Link to see what the report looks like, this is for Southern California)
   It's a lot of earthquakes, the largest one to occur during the past year was in Gonzales California with a 4.6 magnitude. None were above 4.6, that is barely felt outside of the epicenter, any less powerful quakes are noticed, sometimes. What we have is like during the past 24 hours, 6 earthquakes just in Northern California, it's more of a matter of equating the small events with the largest ones that have ever occurred. In fact, it's not a matter of predicting future events by evaluating historical events, like the stock market, that just doesn't matter, they were isolated singular events. Earthquakes cannot be predicted, further, a number of seismologist suspect prediction may never be achieved. The prediction that is of which gives people time to evacuate, even 1-2 minutes prior to it happening would save lives. When we lived in the California Desert, the people I worked with would go to Cardiff by the Sea, North of San Diego, on the weekends surfing, and just being in cool weather. We were there when the Tsunami warning was sounded, there was an offshore earthquake, the beach was crowded, not a single person left the beach. Everyone ignored the warning, worse than that the Tsunami never occurred, a predictors kiss of death. Would it have been better if the big wave did come crashing onshore and possibly kill hundreds if not thousands of people? Would it have changed the behavior of people in the future? I would have to say no, it would not, unless if some of the people on that destroyed beach were on another when a warning was given then maybe some of the people would follow them, otherwise most likely not.

Normally I ignore warnings for this kind of an event.

  Isn't that a grim picture I just painted? It is based on past human reactions to warnings, even if an earthquake could be predicted, how much effect would it have? The first one successfully predicted probably zero, the rest of them most likely a lot, but they must take place. Here I once again took the cows all the way around the pasture to answer the first question "what can I do to prepare for an earthquake while on a vacation in California?"

1)  Gather all of your travel papers together, passport, airline tickets, Identification, medical plan ID and any paperwork for rented cars or equipment and place them all in a small dedicated satchel, purse, or other storage or carrying device.

2)  Place your medications in the bag as well, if you are planning on staying for 2 weeks, bring 4 weeks of medication with you.

3)  Make a plan, FEMA has a lot of templates for planning, follow this Link.

4)  Establish an out of the area contact number, and make sure everyone in your party has it with them, in fact, each member should have a copy of the emergency plan with them. The reason for an out of the area number is due to the fact that as soon as an event takes place, everyone rushes to their phones. After an earthquake (or any natural event) the phone lines are jammed up locally, when we get a busy signal we immediately re-dial, jamming the lines up more. Texting may work, it doesn't take up as much airspace (?) as a Cell Phone, but the chances are it won't work, don't count on it. Designate a relative or friend from home, and make sure they know they are "it".

5)  Charge all of your electronic equipment every night, Cell phone, Computer, and flashlights.

6)  Keep the rental car full of gas.

7)  Know where you are, how many different roads there are out, how to get to them and where they go.

8)  Each member should have a photo of every other member of the group along with them if someone cannot be found the searchers will at least know what the person looks like.

  That's a good list, if you notice there is no food, water, flashlights, or other "survival gear" listed, there is a reason. A few bottles of water left in the car, some granola or something as well left in the car may be prudent. The real reason I did not list a bunch of equipment and a 72-hour kit is that not being a resident you most likely won't need the survival tools typically associated with an Emergency Kit. you will have no "skin" in the game, everything you come in contact with on vacation is not permanent, you don't have to stay. As a traveler it won't be needed because Earthquakes are regional, that is the destruction may be terrible at the higher magnitudes, but if an 8.0 magnitude takes place in San Francisco, all that may be felt in the Central Valley is heavier than normal ground shaking. The way that affects a tourist is they can leave the area, jump in the car and go somewhere else out of the affected zone. (See #6 above), You may have to drive in heavy traffic, but if the roads are open you can leave, it takes a huge earthquake to destroy a road. If the roads are closed due to collapse or fire, then stay where you are, The hotel is equipped to deal with issues such as water, food, and communications, but it would be prudent to leave if possible.

San Francisco

  That is for everywhere except San Francisco, there are three highways out of the City, they are packed on the everyday commutes, and with an 8.0 magnitude quake, a lot of people will be trying to leave. They won't make it, the first 3-5000 will, there are 864,900 residents, I figure 1% will make it out on the highways, even at that where will they go, Oakland? San Francisco is a peninsula, so I always think water, the best way to get out of town would be via water. Inland a person can be 50 miles away in a few hours, or as far away as Sacramento, or Stockton, there are hundreds of small towns along the rivers, sloughs, and bays of the Delta. A person could go the other direction, out to sea and the sky is the limit in that direction. I am sorry to say that it would be a monumental task to leave the City in the event of a powerful earthquake, so planning for a visit to that part of California should be intensely detailed.
  If I were traveling to California, the West Coast, I would take advantage of FEMA online for planning, have a paper map with you and know where you are at all times, there are some places here that don't have earthquakes. Then there are others as were I live that experienced 12 in the past 24 hours, I did not feel a single one of them and they were all within 150 miles of me. That's about all a traveler can do, take care of paperwork and be prepared to get out of Dodge thoughtfully.
Thank you for reading and sharing my blog, there is a lot to do in California, earthquakes are a very small part of the picture, but still, planning must be done to survive them. One more thing, if you are outside during an earthquake, you are in the safest place you can be, just don't get under a bridge, tree, or anything that can fall over. We've had several people killed in parks when trees have fallen over, without an earthquake, there is no way to predict a tree falling either.
jacquesandkate  EmergencyKitsPlus.com