Is your family ready for the big one? If not you should be and do not for a second believe that Earthquakes only happen in California. There are seismic faults all over the world and in some places you might not even think of. You might be surprised how close you live to one and realize with a big Earthquake damage can occur up to a 100 miles away and thats only from the shaking, not even thinking of Tsunami wave action. One thing you must remember is simply because there has been a large quake does not mean there will not be many aftershocks which follow. The bigger the quake the larger the aftershocks and the longer they can continue. After the Indonesia Quake the aftershocks continued for nearly a year.

After an Earthquake, check to make sure there are no leaks, if you smell gas, shut it off.

You need to have some sort of plan for your family, workplace and household. It is always wise to have a family member or contact point out of state that you can call and check in with to communicate messages to your local family. It is smart to have shoes, extra set of clothes and a jacket in your car in case you cant get into your house or find yourself with glass all around. Battery operated flash lights are important as well as transistor radio. Make sure to have a small medical kit for cuts and burns, which are common minor injuries, which do occur in Earthquakes.

Do not eat all your food supplies the first day, ration out your supply it could be days until you can get to a store and looting can get you hurt or shot. Also be sure to have spare food for your pets. After you see your family is okay fill up your bathtub with water, as there maybe water lines broken this could be your last chance. Do not fill it completely to the top as after shocks could spill it.

You should have enough food on hand for 5-7 days and do not expect the government to come give you food, you have to look out for yourself. Also if you take medicine always have two weeks worth. Dont assume you can go on a free shopping spree, when people start looting the store shelves empty in less than a couple of hours. A Wal-Mart maybe a day, but food will go fast, do not counting on joining the looters. If you run out of water there is usually 40 or so gallons in the average hot water heater and you can drain it out, assume you will need 1 gallon a day per family member for drinking water to keep you alive.

I hope this helps get you thinking of the types of things you might need. There are some valuable resources online as well as government websites with more information, which can assist you in setting up your family disaster plan. The purpose of this article is to get you to think, do some research and not procrastinate; you never know when an Earthquake will happen.