Earthquake Safety Guide: How To Stay Safe Before, During, And After A Quake

Earthquakes are sudden, fast, and unforgiving. You usually get no warning and only a few seconds to react. This guide is built to be practical: what to do before, during, and after a quake, especially if you live in an apartment or multi-story building.

The goal is simple: avoid collapse, avoid falling objects, avoid fire, and stay alive until help arrives.

How Earthquakes Hurt People

Most earthquake injuries do not come from the ground opening or huge Hollywood cracks. They come from something much more basic. (USGS.GOV)

People get hurt when ceilings, walls, glass, shelves, and heavy objects fall. They get cut by broken glass, hit by furniture, trapped by debris, burned by fires, or caught in landslides and tsunamis. Inside buildings, the biggest danger is falling or flying objects and partial structural failure, not the building neatly collapsing at once.

So your first line of defense is not running. It is protecting your body from impact and debris.

Before an Earthquake: Set Yourself Up To Survive

Preparation sounds boring until the shaking starts. Then it is the only thing that matters.

At home, focus on three simple jobs.

Secure your space. Anchor tall furniture like bookcases, wardrobes, and TVs so they cannot fall. Move heavy objects away from high shelves and over beds. Identify windows, glass doors, and hanging lights that could shatter. Authorities like USGS and FEMA strongly emphasize securing moveable items as a first step.

Plan to be safe. Decide where you will drop, cover, and hold on in each room. Choose an indoor meeting point after shaking stops and an outdoor meeting point away from buildings. Make a simple family communication plan.

Organize supplies. Store drinking water, basic food, headlamps or flashlights, extra batteries, a first aid kit, needed medications, and sturdy shoes near your bed or main exit. Assume you may have to move barefoot in dark hallways over broken glass.

These steps do not stop an earthquake, but they radically reduce the chance that the first 30 seconds destroys you.

During an Earthquake: Drop, Cover, Hold On

Modern safety guidance from CDC, USGS, FEMA, and the Red Cross all agree on one main action in most situations: drop, cover, and hold on.

You will not have time to think through a complex plan. Train your brain to do this automatically.

Drop down on your hands and knees so the shaking does not knock you off your feet.
Cover your head and neck and your whole body if possible under sturdy furniture such as a table or desk.
Hold on to the furniture until the shaking stops and be ready to move with it if it shifts. CDC+1

Below are specific situations.

If You Are Indoors at Home or in an Apartment

If you are inside, stay inside. Do not run for the stairs or the door while the building is shaking. The area just outside buildings is one of the most dangerous places because glass, facades, and bricks can fall outward. CDC+1

Do this instead.

Move a step or two away from windows, heavy shelves, or anything that can fall.
Drop, cover, and hold on under a strong table or desk.
If no sturdy furniture is near you, drop next to an interior wall, away from windows, and cover your head and neck with your arms.

If you are in bed, stay there. Protect your head with a pillow and stay away from windows or heavy objects on the wall above you. Getting out of bed in the dark into broken glass is often more dangerous than staying put. CDC

Do not stand in doorways. In modern construction, doorways are not stronger than other parts of the building and do not protect you from falling objects. The old “stand in the doorway” advice is outdated and unsafe compared to drop, cover, and hold on.

If you are in the kitchen and can safely do it in the first second or two, switch off the stove, then cover. The kitchen is one of the most dangerous rooms because of glass, cabinets, and appliances.

If you are in a high-rise apartment, stay inside, move away from windows and exterior walls, drop, cover, and hold on. Do not use elevators. Power and fire systems may be affected, and the elevator can fail or jam. 

If You Are in a Crowded Indoor Place

In stores, malls, or offices, do not rush for exits with everyone else. Many people moving at once is a crush risk, and you are still under ceilings, glass, and lights.

Move slightly away from shelves and large displays and then drop, cover, and hold on. Protect your head and neck from falling items. Wait for shaking to stop before moving toward exits in a controlled way. 

In a stadium or theater, stay in your seat, cover your head and neck with your arms or a bag, and remain until shaking stops. Then leave calmly, watching for loose objects and aftershocks.

If You Are Outside

If you are outdoors, stay outside. Move to an open area away from buildings, trees, streetlights, and power lines. 

Once clear of hazards, get low to the ground and stay there until the shaking stops. The worst place is right next to building walls and under facades and glass.

If You Are in a Vehicle

If you are driving, slow down and stop in a safe place away from bridges, overpasses, tall buildings, trees, and power lines. Set the parking brake and stay inside the vehicle until the shaking stops. Roads, bridges, and overpasses might be damaged. 

If a power line falls on your car, stay inside until trained personnel confirm it is safe to exit.

If You Are Near the Coast

If you are near the sea and strong shaking lasts around 20 seconds or more, a tsunami may follow. As soon as shaking stops, move quickly to higher ground, at least several tens of meters above sea level or inland as far as possible, without waiting for official warnings. 

Walking may be safer than driving if roads are blocked or damaged.

You might also like: STOP Method Guide: Step-By-Step Actions When You’re Lost in Nature

After the Shaking Stops: Survive the Next Hours

The first wave of shaking is only part of the danger. Aftershocks can follow within minutes or hours. Fire, gas leaks, structural damage, and panic can all kill people after the main quake.

Start with self-check and family check. Look quickly for injuries. Control bleeding with direct pressure. Get anyone seriously hurt into a safer place if the immediate area is dangerous.

If you are inside and the building is clearly damaged, with collapsed ceilings, major cracks, or strong smell of gas, move out carefully once the shaking stops and it is safe to move. Use stairs, not elevators. Take grab-and-go items like shoes, water, and basic supplies if you can do so without delaying evacuation.

If you smell gas, hear hissing, or see broken pipes, leave the building immediately and warn others. Do not use open flames, lighters, matches, or electrical switches until you are sure there are no leaks. Explosions after earthquakes are a common cause of injuries and deaths. 

Stay away from downed power lines and damaged poles. Report them to authorities if possible.

Expect aftershocks. These can be strong enough to bring down structures already weakened by the first quake. Stay in open areas or structurally safer locations, and be ready to drop, cover, and hold on again.

Listen to official information. Use battery radios, phones, or local alert systems to get instructions about shelters, tsunamis, water safety, and road conditions. Follow evacuation or shelter-in-place guidance.

Avoid reentering badly damaged buildings until structural professionals or authorities say it is safe.

Earthquake Safety In Apartments: The Bottom Line

For apartment dwellers, the rules are simple.

Secure your space before anything happens.
During shaking, stay inside, move a few steps to a safer spot away from glass and heavy objects, then drop, cover, and hold on.
Use stairs, not elevators, after the shaking stops if you need to evacuate.
Expect debris in stairwells and corridors and wear shoes if you can.

In modern buildings, a sturdy table or desk in an interior part of the apartment is usually safer than a doorway or an attempt to run outside mid-quake.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Safety Guidelines: During an Earthquake. 2024.
https://www.cdc.gov/earthquakes/safety/stay-safe-during-an-earthquake.html

United States Geological Survey. What should I do DURING an earthquake?
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-should-i-do-during-earthquake

United States Geological Survey. What can I do to be prepared for an earthquake?
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-can-i-do-be-prepared-earthquake

Yashar Survival Academy (YSA). How To Survive An Earthquake/
https://yashar-survival.ir/how-to-survive-an-earthquake/

Ready.gov. Earthquakes.
https://www.ready.gov/earthquakes

Federal Emergency Management Agency. Earthquake Safety at Home (FEMA P-530).
https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-08/fema_earthquakes_fema-p-530-earthquake-safety-at-home-march-2020.pdf