It used to be recommended that you stand in a doorway of a load-bearing wall. During the Northridge quake, I headed for the double doors that lead to our bedroom. The doors swung back and forth wildly, and whapped me in the face. That was twice that my own actions resulted in minor injury. We don't have furniture in most rooms that I could get under, so now I just stay put during a quake and cover my head with my arms.
During a tsunami, about 88,000 people in Huntington Beach would need to evacuate. We have sirens throughout town that would sound in case of emergency. If that happens, tune a radio to 107.9 FM to receive further instructions. Vic and I have pre-tuned our car radios to that station, and have written it down on our hand-crank and solar powered emergency radios.
During a major emergency such as an earthquake, the Fire Department's first responsibility is a "windshield survey" of our infrastructure. Your garage may be on fire from a gas explosion, or you may have cut your feet on glass, but they're going to drive right on by. Their first job is to survey a preset course to see if the hospitals are still standing, if the sewage treatment plant is functioning, and if the flood control channels are still intact. After assessing the extent of damage, their priorities are to save lives, and only then to save property. At any given time, we have one firefighter on duty per every 5,000 residents, so they can't help everyone.
