Job Discussion Forums

[markle]

Given the latest quake up north, I've been examining how prepared I'd be if one hit where I live, and it's not pretty.

So how well prepared do you think you are? Do you think you could last for a couple days, a week, a month? What contingency plans have you got in place?

For some of the old hands who may have been through a serious quake, what less obvious things should people be aware of / prepared for.

[Big John Stud]

If there is a serious quake, we guijin are all doomed! Seriously, I'm not too worried.

[Jon Taylor]

Not too sure whether you should prepare yourself for an earthquake.

I mean....what can you do ?

I don't prepare myself for a car crash or a knife attack so why should a quake be any different.

When it happens it happens and there's not a damn thing you, I or anyone else can do about it.

It's all quite exciting really.

[gaijin4life]

[Apsara]

What can you do? You can have some food and water put away, other emergency supplies etc. for the off-chance that you survive the quake and were at home or manage to get back home. One of the biggest problems in Niigata at the moment for the evacuees is lack of drinking water.

You can also use bracing rods to stop any high shelving units toppling, not store heavy things on high shelves etc.

I have made a half-hearted attempt to put together a bag of emergency supplies, but do need to get more serious about it.

[JimDunlop2]

Grasshopper and ant story, anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper

You can most certainly prepare for earthquakes. We try to keep a fairly large supply of drinking water in bottles and cannisters. Also, extra blankets, towels, first aid kit, rope, tools, lots of canned food.

These are all easy measures anyone can take. Otherwise, if you don't get crushed from your house or apartment falling on your head, you'd best have resources to stay alive until you can get help (which, this being Japan, may be a LONG time)...

I also keep a loaded 10 gau. shotgun on-hand to defend my turf for when the zombies attack my house after everyone gets turned into super-mutants from the radioactive fallout at nearby nuclear power plants getting spilled into the public water supply.

[partialtone]

[Shimmeringstar]

If you want to feel a bit more secure in case of an earthquake, it doesn't take too much time or trouble to keep a couple bottles of water, a few cereal bars, a flashlight, and a couple first-aid items in a backpack somewhere. Like previously posted, this sort of "preperation pack" won't help you if you're away from home, but in the event of a quake happening at night or something, it could come in handy. Even if you never need it, it could give you some peace of mind.

[Yawarakaijin]

My girlfriend tells me the earth moves every night. Sorry, how we prepare for that is a secret.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Can you imagine if the big one (earthquake) hit during a massive typhoon?

That'd be WICKED!!!!! Buildings would start crumbing from the shakin', then the bits would start blowing away from the typhoon and so standing on the street would be like standing on a trampoline in the middle of a very wet, windy asteroid belt!

[markle]

[partialtone]

[nawlinsgurl]

Sad to say but, I was surfing when I got an email about the earthquake. Good waves in Kamakura after the typhoon...but seeing all the damage on the news made me realize I need to definitly make an emergency kit!

[jc1977]

Here was my preparation Monday: Wake up with a raging hangover enhanced by a shaking room. Grab the two Venus flytraps placed foolishly above my head on a windowsill. Thank the stars that I am too hungover to be afraid or recall that I'm living on the ninth floor and hate heights.

Here's hoping everyone out there in the prefecture is safe.

[furiousmilksheikali]