Earthquakes

Well, we have had about 12 earthquakes in the past 24 hours. They are not big ones and not scarey or anything. Most earthquakes last a couple of seconds and so they are really over before you notice them. The best way I can think of to describe them is the way you feel when a large truck goes past your house on the street. It sort of rumbles and shakes slightly, but is not dramatic. It is also over that quickly. I am not a seismologist, but I have always heard that it is preferable to have a bunch of small ones, since it is really a slow releasing of pressure on tectonic plates. The earth is covered with these plates and the world is always shifting and moving.

What was ironic is that we had a talk planned for our management meeting today about emergency preparedness. I realized that I really need to take it alot more seriously. Ours was about planning for both people and pets and that you should really be prepared with a week's worth of food and water, including pet food. The point that was most stressed was the need to have water and that without it, you can not live past seven days. Morbid, but true. They also said that you do not know where you will be when disaster strikes, so I am thinking I should keep a small kit in my car with stuff for Liesie and I. I think I will hit the dollar store this week for some small supplies for first aid. I also think I will keep a couple of gallons of water and dog food with me.

There were two points that were most sobering to me. One was that we only have 14 ambulances in our very large county, and 11 of those are in service at any given time. Therefore, in a disaster, the likelihood is that people will basically have to tend to their own injuries, so the first aid kit should be at the ready.

The other point that came up for all medical emergencies, is that you should really have a plan for your pets if you are in a general emergency situation. We were told that you should carry a little card in your wallet, saying that you have a pet at home, and contact info on who you have made arrangements with to take care of your pet in an emergency. This will insure that if you are in an emergency and can not communicate, that someone will be alerted to the fact that your pet needs care.

It was most interesting to me that I have procrastinated more when I thought about the stuff that I should do to be prepared. However, there is a greater urgency now that I understand that this little furry soul is depending on me, too, in an emergency. I am embarassed to say that I had not considered the issue of lack of water (pipes can and would be destroyed in a major earthquake), and emergency resources being stretched so thin. I am grateful that we talked about it at work and I am now going to develop my plan and put it into action this weekend. Hopefully, I will never need it, but in case, I will be ready. I really should have known better before this. I was living in the Bay Area when the 1989 Loma Prieta quake hit, and it was really scarey. So I know that it happens and it is less scarey when you have a plan.