How to Survive an Earthquake: Household Drill and Safety Guide

If earthquake shaking starts, drop to your hands and knees, cover your head and neck under a sturdy table or desk if one is close, and hold on until the shaking stops. If there is no nearby shelter, stay low beside an interior wall or low furniture and protect your head and neck. In most US buildings, do not run outside and do not stand in a doorway.

Those few actions are easier to remember after you have practiced them. This guide turns current US government and earthquake-safety guidance into a room check, a five-minute household drill and a printable action card. It cannot guarantee survival or tell whether a building is structurally safe. Follow local emergency instructions and use qualified professionals for structural, gas or electrical concerns.

What to do when the shaking starts

1. Drop: get onto your hands and knees before the motion knocks you down. This lowers the chance of a fall while letting you crawl a short distance if needed.
2. Cover: protect your head and neck. Get under a sturdy table or desk when one is close. If none is close, stay low beside an interior wall or low furniture, away from windows, tall furniture and hanging objects.
3. Hold on: hold the shelter and be ready to move with it. If you have no shelter, keep covering your head and neck.

Stay where you are while the building shakes. Running outside can put you near falling glass, masonry and facade pieces. A doorway in a modern home is not a special safe zone. If you use a wheelchair, lock the wheels and protect your head and neck; if possible, use nearby sturdy cover. If you are in bed, stay there and cover your head and neck with a pillow unless an immediate hazard requires movement.

If you are outside or driving

Outside, move to an open area away from buildings, trees and utility lines, then stay low until shaking stops. In a vehicle, pull over safely away from bridges, overpasses, wires and signs; set the parking brake and remain inside until the shaking ends. If a power line falls on the vehicle, stay inside and wait for trained help.

If you are near the coast

First drop, cover and hold on. After strong or long shaking, follow local tsunami evacuation guidance immediately and move inland or to high ground; do not wait beside the shore for confirmation. Routes and thresholds are location-specific, so learn yours before an emergency. See the site’s tsunami guide as background, but use local official maps and alerts for the actual route.

Prepare the rooms where people actually are

Earthquake preparation is not only a supply list. Walk through bedrooms, the kitchen, living areas and workspaces. For each room, identify a reachable cover location and the objects that could fall, slide, shatter or block an exit. Move heavy objects to lower shelves. Secure tall furniture, televisions and other top-heavy items using hardware appropriate for the wall and object. Keep beds and seats away from heavy mirrors and shelves where practical.

Do not improvise structural or utility work. Local building guidance, a qualified contractor or an engineer can address anchoring, foundations, chimneys and other structural questions. Ask the gas utility when and how the household should shut off service; turning it off unnecessarily can create a different hazard and it may require a professional to restore it.

Five-minute household earthquake drill

1. Choose one ordinary starting place for each person: bed, kitchen, desk, sofa or another location.
2. Say “earthquake” and practice drop, cover and hold on for one minute. Do not create falling-object hazards for the drill.
3. Each person points out the nearest window, tall item or hanging object to avoid.
4. After the pretend shaking stops, put on sturdy shoes, take the safest known exit only if evacuation is necessary, and meet at the household’s agreed nearby point.
5. Practice sending one short text to the agreed out-of-area contact. Do not call emergency services as part of a drill.

Repeat the drill from a different room. Include the actual needs of children, older adults, disabled household members, pets and anyone who may need assistance. The site’s private emergency contact card can record contacts and meeting places without sending the entries to the server.

Printable room check and drill card

Complete this card together. “Cover” means the nearest practical protective action, not a promise that a location is structurally safe.

• Nearby meeting point: ________________________________________
• Out-of-area contact: _________________________________________
• Local tsunami route needed? yes / no / check official map
• Next drill date: ______________________________________________

Print this earthquake drill card

What to do after the shaking

1. Pause and look: expect aftershocks. Check for falling debris, broken glass and other hazards before moving. Put on sturdy shoes if they are safely within reach.
2. Check people: check yourself, then others. Call emergency services for a life-threatening emergency when communications allow. Do not move a seriously injured person unless an immediate danger makes staying more hazardous.
3. Leave an unsafe area: if the building appears damaged, you smell gas, hear hissing, see fire or officials order evacuation, use a safe route away from the building. Do not use elevators.
4. Avoid ignition and damaged utilities: do not use flames, switches or appliances if a gas leak may be present. Stay away from downed lines and damaged equipment. Report the problem from a safe place and let the utility or trained professionals handle it.
5. Follow official information: monitor local alerts and radio. Text rather than call for routine check-ins when networks are congested. Do not re-enter a damaged building until authorities say it is safe.

If trapped, protect your mouth, nose and eyes from dust, send a text if possible, and tap on a pipe or wall or use a whistle to help rescuers locate you. Avoid unnecessary movement that stirs dust or uses energy.

Build supplies around the first decisions

Supplies support a plan; they do not replace it. Keep sturdy shoes and a flashlight where they can be reached without crossing broken glass. Store water, food, medicines, first-aid materials, a radio, batteries, sanitation supplies and items for specific household needs in more than one accessible location if a single storage area could be blocked.

Use the essential emergency supplies guide for a task-based checklist and the emergency water calculator for transparent quantity planning. Maintained comparison guides cover emergency flashlights and hand-crank radios. Choose equipment for household needs and current manufacturer specifications; no product makes a damaged structure safe.

Common earthquake mistakes

• Running outside during shaking: exterior walls and the area immediately beside buildings can expose you to falling debris.
• Standing in a doorway: modern doorways are generally no stronger than the surrounding structure and do not protect against flying objects.
• Using a flame after shaking: a leak may not be obvious. Avoid flames and electrical sources when gas is suspected.
• Relying on prediction signs: scientists cannot predict the exact time, place and magnitude of a major earthquake. Treat alerts as prompts for protective action, not forecasts that remove the need to prepare.
• Buying a kit without practicing: the correct action must be reachable from the room you are in. A stored bin does not identify cover or a meeting point.

Sources and limits

This guide is a research synthesis, not a report of personal earthquake or product testing. Core actions were checked against the CDC’s during-earthquake guidance, USGS during-earthquake FAQ, USGS after-earthquake FAQ, and Caltech’s reviewed before/during/after guide, accessed October 26, 2026. Local building types, tsunami zones, utilities and official instructions differ. Check your local emergency-management and building-safety resources.

The practical takeaway

Remember the immediate sequence: drop, cover and hold on. Then make it real: identify cover in the rooms you use, correct one falling hazard, agree on a meeting point, and run the five-minute drill. A short practiced decision is more useful during sudden shaking than a long supply list nobody has rehearsed.

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