There’s no doubt that everyone needs to be prepared for an earthquake, but when the shaking starts, there’s a lot of misconceptions about the place to seek cover.
Experts are setting the record straight on what to do, and what not to do when an earthquake hits.
You may have heard in the past that the best place to stand during an earthquake is under a doorway, but that’s not true.
“The way buildings are made now and homes, the safest place you can be is probably in the middle of a home, away from windows or anything that might fall on your head,” said Derek Lambeth, program manager for the California Earthquake Early Warning Program.
Experts say that when you feel the earth start to shake, you should do the following.
“The first thing you want to do if you receive an alert or you feel the shaking from an earthquake, is to drop, cover and hold on – preferably under something sturdy,” said Lambeth.
Another thing to note is that the first shake you feel may not be the largest, nor the last.
“One misconception is that ‘I felt the big jolt, the next one is going to be much lower than the big one that I felt’ and that’s not always the case. Unfortunately earthquakes are unpredictable so there’s a likelihood that the first major earthquake you felt could be followed by another one that’s just as large or larger,” Lambeth said.
Earthquakes hitting during particular weather patterns is another common myth experts aim to debunk.
“Not real, but everybody has a pattern of it,” said seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones. “Human beings love patterns. When we’re scared, we try to find a pattern that allows us to find a way to be safe. The more scared we are, the more likely we are to believe a spurious pattern, something that isn’t actually real.”
One thing that all experts can agree on is that you should be prepared by having an emergency preparedness kit ready to go, tuning into local alerts and downloading the MyShake App.
WATCH: How to make your own earthquake kit
7 has compiled a list of items that are important to have in your earthquake kit so that you’re prepared for “the big one.”
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