Protecting your home's contents

During an earthquake loose items fall and break. Cabinets and bookcases tip over potentially hurting someone and blocking your exit. Gas and water lines break, and phone and electrical services can be interrupted for days.

If an earthquake happened today while you’re in your home, what objects could injury you? Some simple weekend tasks requiring basic carpentry skills could protect yourself and your family.

An easy and inexpensive way to protect yourself and your family against earthquake damage inside your home is to secure objects that could fall, break or hurt someone, or simply move them to a different area in your home.

Items like bookcases, cabinets, drawers, heavy objects, TVs, computers, large appliances, picture frames, light fixtures, and water heaters can be bracketed, strapped, Velcroed, latched or hooked. You also may want to place them in a different area in your home.

Non-structural resources:

• Institute for Business & Home Safety: A Homeowner’s Guide to Nonstructural Earthquake Retrofit (PDF)

 

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Office of Emergency Management

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