Earthquake Safety: What to Do During the Quake and Right After

On July 28, 2026, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Kyushu, Japan, killing 34 people and collapsing a shopping mall in Miyazaki. Aftershocks and brutal summer heat slowed rescue crews for days. Five days earlier, a 5.0 quake rattled the Texas Panhandle. In early August, small quakes shook Sonoma County and Southern California — and a new study suggests the next Big One on the San Andreas may arrive sooner than scientists once predicted.

The outcome of a quake is decided in the first 60 seconds, and in the hour that follows. The direct answer: the moment the ground moves, drop, cover, and hold on under the closest sturdy table. That one move, made in the first few seconds, separates the unhurt from the injured. Here is exactly what to do during an earthquake and right after it, based on current guidance from FEMA, the USGS, and lessons from response teams on the ground in Kyushu. (If you haven't already, check out our guide to preparing your home before the quake hits — but if the ground is shaking right now, skip ahead to the drills below.)

Earthquake Safety During the Shake: Drop, Cover, and Hold On

The single most important earthquake safety move is also the simplest: drop, cover, and hold on.

1. DROP to your hands and knees before the shaking knocks you down. This keeps you low enough to stay upright, protects you from being thrown, and gets you below falling hazards.
2. COVER your head and neck with one arm and crawl under a sturdy table or desk if one is within a few steps. No table? Get against an inside wall, away from windows, and cover your head and neck with both arms. Stay in the position until the shaking stops.
3. HOLD ON to your shelter with one hand (and stay on your knees). The ground moves sideways, not just up and down — the shaking can slide you out from under your cover.

A few things that get people hurt:

• Do NOT run outside. Most injuries come from falling debris, glass, and toppled facades — exactly what's outside your door. During the 2024 Noto Peninsula quake, many of the worst injuries happened to people fleeing buildings mid-shake.
• Do NOT stand in a doorway. The old advice is wrong — doorways in modern homes aren't structurally stronger, and the door can swing and injure you. You're safer under a table.
• Ignore the "triangle of life." It's a debunked theory based on the idea that you should lie next to furniture. Emergency responders consistently recommend drop, cover, and hold on.

Do and Don't During an Earthquake

Do	Don't
Drop to your hands and knees immediately	Don't run outside or stand in a doorway
Get under a sturdy table and cover your head	Don't use elevators or stairs during the shake
Hold on to your shelter until it stops	Don't light matches or candles — gas leaks are common
Stay away from windows, mirrors, and tall furniture	Don't move seriously injured people unless they're in danger

What to Do If You're Outside, Driving, or in Bed

The drill changes depending on where the quake catches you.

If you're outside: move to an open area away from buildings, streetlights, utility poles, and overhead wires. Drop to the ground and cover your head until the shaking stops. Buildings are the biggest hazard outdoors — stay at least as far away as the building is tall.

If you're driving: pull over to a clear spot, set the parking brake, and stay in the vehicle. Avoid overpasses, bridges, and underpasses — they've collapsed in past quakes. Turn on the radio (a Midland ER310 Emergency Radio is ideal — it pulls NOAA alerts even if your phone has no signal) and wait for instructions. If power lines fall on your car, stay inside until help arrives.

If you're in bed: stay there. Curl up and cover your head and neck with a pillow. Statistically, the most common quake injury is stepping on broken glass in the dark — getting out of bed to "run" is how that happens.

If you're near the coast: a strong quake can trigger a tsunami within minutes. Drop, cover, and hold on during the shaking, then immediately move to high ground or inland — don't wait for an official warning.

During Aftershocks: Expect Them, and Treat Each One Seriously

Kyushu saw hundreds of aftershocks in the days after the July 28 quake — several strong enough to topple structures the main quake had already weakened, and they kept rescuers out of collapsed buildings for days. Aftershocks are not a side note; they're part of the event.

• Use the same drill. Every aftershock gets the full drop, cover, and hold on.
• Stay out of damaged buildings. The biggest aftershock danger is a structure that survived the main quake collapsing on top of you.
• Keep information flowing. Power and cell towers go down in big quakes, so keep a Midland ER310 Emergency Radio near your go-bag — its 72+ hour battery and NOAA SAME alerts tell you when larger aftershocks are forecast.

The First 10 Minutes After the Shaking Stops

The shaking stops. Now what? Work through this order.

1. Check yourself and the people around you for injuries. Attend to any bleeding before anything else (details below).

2. Put on sturdy shoes. Broken glass and debris will cover floors and streets. This is the cheapest injury prevention there is.

3. Check for gas leaks. If you smell gas (that rotten-egg odor) or hear a hiss near the meter, shut off the gas at the main valve — it's usually on the outside of the house, and it takes one quarter-turn with a wrench. Do NOT light matches, flip light switches, or use anything that sparks until you're sure there's no leak. If you suspect a major leak, evacuate and call 911 from outside. Note: only shut off the gas if you smell or hear a leak — an unnecessary shutdown can take utilities days to restore.

4. Look for fire hazards. If you smell smoke, shut off the main breaker (only if you can do so safely) and use a fire extinguisher on small fires — fires after quakes have historically caused as much damage as the shaking itself. A UL-rated 1-A:10-B:C unit like the Kidde FA110G Home Fire Extinguisher (1-A:10-B:C) handles kitchen and small electrical fires; mount it visible near your exit, never behind clutter. They spread the same way wildfires do, on embers, which is why the wildfire home hardening work (clean gutters, 1/8-inch vent mesh, a clear 5-foot zone around the house) is exactly what limits quake fires too.

5. Tune in to the radio or NOAA for emergency instructions. Don't rely on your phone; in the 2011 Tōhoku quake, cell service collapsed within minutes.

Treating Injuries and Bleeding With What You Have

Broken glass causes most quake injuries — deep cuts, lacerations, and crush injuries from toppled furniture. Medical help can be hours away, especially if roads are blocked.

• Direct pressure first. Press a clean cloth or gauze firmly on the wound and hold for 5–10 minutes without peeking. Add layers if it soaks through.
• Elevate the limb if possible. For severe, life-threatening bleeding from an arm or leg, a tourniquet applied high and tight can save a life — this is why a trauma kit matters.
• Know what's in your kit before you need it. We tested the top options in our best first aid kits of 2026 roundup. For a home budget pick, the First Aid Only 298-Piece All-Purpose Kit covers cuts, burns, and sprains for about $25. For something you can grab in the dark with color-coded, hospital-style organization, the Surviveware Large First Aid Kit is the family favorite. And if you want to be able to handle a serious bleed before help arrives, the trauma-focused MyMedic MyFAK Pro First Aid Kit comes with a tourniquet, chest seals, and hemostatic gauze — the tools Kyushu rescue teams wish more households had.

What to Grab After the Shaking Stops

After you've accounted for injuries and checked the gas, make one pass for your essentials — and then get outside. In Kyushu, residents who wasted time gathering belongings were the ones caught in aftershock collapses.

• Your go-bag (or the basics: meds, glasses, phone, wallet, keys)
• Water and food — see our food and water storage guide for how much you need
• Light and power — a EcoFlow RIVER 3 Portable Power Station portable power station keeps phones and radios charged for days when the grid is down
• Warm layers and sturdy shoes even if it's summer — you may be outside overnight
• Your emergency radio — Midland ER310 Emergency Radio

Don't wait for everything to be "perfect." Grab what's within arm's reach and move to your safe meeting spot.

When Is It Safe to Re-enter?

This is where people get hurt after the danger seems over.

• Don't re-enter a damaged building until it's been inspected by a structural engineer or building official. In Kyushu, people returning to check on belongings days after the quake were injured when weakened buildings came down in aftershocks.
• Look for the warning signs: cracks in walls or foundations, visibly leaning or tilted structures, stuck doors and windows (a sign the frame has shifted), broken chimneys, and fallen ceilings.
• Use the stairs, never the elevator — power can fail mid-ride, and elevators were death traps in past quakes.
• If you evacuated, wait for an official all-clear before going back, and be ready to leave again at a moment's notice.

The ground in California and the Pacific Northwest is under tension — and 2026's quakes are a reminder that "the Big One" is a when, not an if.

What If You're Trapped?

After a big quake, some people end up pinned under debris or inside a collapsed structure. The rule that saves lives is to be loud enough to find, quietly enough to last:

• Conserve air and energy. Lie still, keep your breathing slow, and don't waste strength trying to move heavy debris. Rescue crews take time to arrive; your job is to be there when they do.
• Tap, don't shout. Tap on pipes, walls, or metal in a steady rhythm (three knocks, pause, repeat). Sound travels well through debris, and a tapping rhythm is easier for rescuers to pinpoint than a voice. Shouting burns air and dries out your throat fast.
• Use a whistle if you have one. A whistle carries much farther than a shout and costs zero air. It's why first-aid and go-bag checklists put one on your keychain. The Fox 40 Sonik Blast CMG Whistle has a pea-less design that stays loud wet or dusty, so it keeps working when debris is doing the opposite.
• Cover your mouth with cloth if dust is thick, and don't light matches or lighters — gas leaks are common after quakes and a spark can turn a rescue into a second disaster.
• Text, don't call. If you have signal, a text uses far less bandwidth than a call and is far more likely to get through while lines are jammed.

Panic is the enemy. Pick the quiet-and-steady approach, keep tapping, and listen for the rescue crews the moment they're in range.

Quick Recommendations

• Budget home first-aid: First Aid Only 298-Piece All-Purpose Kit
• Best all-around family kit: Surviveware Large First Aid Kit
• Trauma-ready for serious bleeds: MyMedic MyFAK Pro First Aid Kit
• Power for multi-day outages: EcoFlow RIVER 3 Portable Power Station
• Stay informed during aftershocks: Midland ER310 Emergency Radio

Stay safe out there. The best prep is the one you actually do.