I was out of town last weekend for a wedding, and coming down for my hotel breakfast my heart stopped as I saw the headline “Major Earthquake Hits California” on the lobby TV screen.
Living on the west coast for the last 15+ years, I’ve become accustomed to the idea and experience of earthquakes, as unsettling as they are. Every time the earth rumbles I brace myself and think “is this IT?”
By “IT” I am referring to The Big One, for which California (and most of the west coast of the US and Canada, for that matter) is well overdue. You know, the one where California sinks into the ocean and or massive tidal waves take out our favorite beach towns.
I am only mildly exaggerating. This is quite a serious matter. It’s easy to see images of earthquake devastation in faraway places on TV and feel moved but detached. But let’s face it: we ARE overdue for a big earthquake (by big I mean a magnitude of 6.7 or greater on the Richter scale) and experts predict that it can happen anytime between now and 30 years from now. The fact that it *hasn’t* happened yet doesn’t decrease its probability or the likelihood of it being really, really big. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
My husband, a California native who’s grown up with earthquakes and thus doesn’t fear them as much as I do said to me “they’ve been predicting The Big One ever since I was a kid. It’s no big deal.”
And here’s the thing: I hope beyond all hope that he’s right. In this case, I’d LOVE him to prove me wrong.
But what if he doesn’t? What if The Big One DOES happen? Will we be ready for it? Will you?
Now, I’m talking earthquakes here, but I could insert just about any natural disaster: flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, ice storms. I don’t know that there’s anywhere you can live right now that doesn’t have some major natural disaster threat. (Trust me, I’ve looked.)
Here’s my thought: when it comes to disaster preparedness, I’d far prefer to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
And so with Sunday’s shake, I got serious. I just spent the morning ordering the rest of the supplies to complete our family’s earthquake kit, and I highly encourage you to do the same. These are the kinds of things that are hard to put on the priority list – it’s that long-term preventative might-never-need-it kind of thing – but it’s VITALLY important that you do so. Your life could depend on it.
Here’s a fantastic article by my colleague and dear friend Dr. Mike Carragher of The Body Well with a simple and straightforward list of what you need to be ready. It’s not complicated and you’re probably part way there already. How about you take a few minutes and finish it up, and let’s all hope and pray that we never need to use it.
