The standard advice now taught in California schools is "Duck, cover, hold." Basically everything that parent poster said, but in a pithy 3-word aphorism you're more likely to remember.

Another hot tip.

The weak ones don’t prepare you for the strong ones.

I’ve been rocking and rolling in So Cal for decades. I’ve felt most of the major quakes that have made the news. I’ve seen stuff fall from my walls, transformers short out and explode. Felt rollers, thumpers, shakers.

We’ve had four of note at my house this year alone so far. One of them felt like it picked the house up and dropped it several inches.

Each time, they were never severe enough to get me to dive for anything. It’s just like that dinner scene in LA Story, where they just grab their glasses and carry on.

Then, you see videos of “real quakes”. Stuff out of movies. File cabinets sliding across the floor. Bookcases falling. Heavy things tossed like they weigh nothing, not to mention the larger damage.

Having been through my series of quakes, I can see they’re nothing like a major one. But, right now, my gumption when one shows up is wait and see. Perhaps not the best habit. But when you’re in bed at night, and a small roller hits and it feels like you just dropped a quarter in the slot to turn your bed on, hard to get motivated to get up and out and duck and cover.

Better just to roll over, say “it’s ok honey” to my wife, and go back to sleep.

It’s the first thing we teach new arrivals to California along with “stop, drop, and toll” and what real Mexican food tastes like.

> “stop, drop, and toll”

In California, even saving yourself from being on fire is taxed.

Guys, calm down, it is actually an ok pun joke. “Toll”, get it?

I didn't think this would get hate rofl

I don’t know why you got downvoted. I liked the joke!

I guess my fellow Californians can be a little touchy about taxes.

It's relatively self-explanatory. The full expansion would be "Duck under a table or other rigid object. Cover your head. Hold on."

It's:

DROP or DUCK down to your hands and knees

Take COVER protecting your head/neck with an arm and crawl under a sturdy table/desk possible or to a nearby interior wall away from potential falling objects

HOLD ON to your shelter if you have it or head/neck with both hands if you don't

It's not as obvious as stop, drop and roll which is why drills are a thing in schools.

It's also not terribly far from duck and cover drills for nukes or tornadoes as I understand it. The hold on bit was added to keep people from tripping and breaking a leg while running around while the ground is shaking.

Yeah no, unless someone has previously told you what it means there's no way of guessing that, that's just wishful thinking.

It really isn't for anyone whose native language is American English. Unless you plan to quack, while singing a Mariah Carey song, and waiting to speak to customer service rep instead.

I bet you’ll remember it now though :)

What a strange comment - I strongly doubt that schools are teaching that phrase without simultaneously expanding on what the phrase means. Introduce the phrase, explain it at the deeper level, then move forward with using the phrase once the students have been taught its deeper meaning. Why flippantly assume that that's not being done?

I grew up on the west coast and that's exactly how it was taught to us in public schools.

Midwest and we have a similar process for tornadoes.. and nuclear bombs.

You forgot the advice of "don't run outside from a building." In the US, most buildings are going to be fine structurally; however, the facade of the building or glass, etc., may fall off.

In other parts of the world, it'll depend on the local building codes and their enforcement.

The scaffolding-covered sidewalks in front of many buildings in NYC are a good reminder of that actually. I wouldn't trust the scaffolding to protect me if major parts of a building were to fall off in an earthquake however...

I suppose depending on the structure and the individual's inclination strong table might be a good call.

But in my single family home situation it really doesn't take more than a few seconds and I can be out the door provided I'm not knocked off my feet entirely type situation.

Being out the door is usually riskier than being inside a wood-frame SFH. You're exposed to falling trees, branches, power lines, and roof debris, as well as unsecured cars or other loose items. Wood-framed 1-2 story SFHs almost never collapse in an earthquake; the wood can bend to absorb the shock, and there's a lot of redundancy in the studs, and not a whole lot of weight on floors above you.

I guess I'm fortunate / unfortunate that my outdoors ... doesn't have a lot of that.

It might be interesting to somehow determine earthquake injuries / ability to get in or outdoors and measure the real risk from actual events.

You really shouldn't run out the door during and immediately after (as in, as soon as it seems to have stopped) large earthquakes. The building, structurally, will most likely be fine (unless it's a truly massive one in an area that doesn't get massive earthquakes normally), however the facade and whatever else is on the outside of the building probably won't be. Think roof shingles, billboards, windows, planter boxes, trees, powerlines, antennae...

Plus you'd be surprised how hard it is to even stand straight during particularly strong quakes yet alone walk/run, there's no possible description I can give to explain adequately how strange it is to feel the ground underneath your feet shaking violently, especially in buildings.