What to do during an earthquake: the first 60 seconds

An earthquake gives no warning. There is no alert, no time to plan and no room to improvise: what you do in the first second is decided by your body, not your head. That is why official guidance is a single short sentence, and why it is worth having rehearsed it.

Drop, cover and hold on: what each word means

The three verbs are not a slogan. They are three separate actions in order.

Drop to the ground before the shaking knocks you down. Getting on hands and knees gives you stability, protects your vital organs and lets you crawl if you need to.

Cover your head and neck with one arm. If a sturdy table is within reach, get under it. If not, move against an interior wall, away from windows, mirrors, shelving and anything that can fall on you.

Hold on to whatever is covering you and move with it. A table shifts during shaking; if you are not gripping it, you are no longer under it within seconds.

What to do based on where you are

Where you are	What to do	What to avoid
Home or office	Drop, get under a table, hold on	Running for the exit
In bed	Stay put, cover with a pillow	Getting up in the dark
Tall building	Move away from windows and cover	The elevator, always
Outdoors	Move to open space and drop	Facades, cornices, power lines
In a car	Pull over somewhere clear and stay in	Bridges and overpasses
On the coast	Once shaking stops, head for high ground	Waiting for a tsunami alert

Why the doorway myth persists

The doorway idea comes from photographs of adobe houses where the only thing left standing was the door frame. In a modern framed building the doorway is no stronger than the surrounding structure, and it leaves you standing when the safe posture is low, next to a door that can swing hard.

On the coast, the quake is the alert

In tsunami hazard zones, shaking strong enough to make it hard to stand is itself the warning. When it stops, move to high ground or inland on your own without waiting for an official notification, which may not arrive in time.

When the shaking stops it is not over

Aftershocks start almost immediately and can be nearly as strong as the main event. In the first minutes afterwards:

1. Check yourself and the people with you for injuries before looking at damage.
2. Put on closed shoes: broken glass underfoot is the most common injury of the hours that follow.
3. If you smell gas, shut off the valve, open windows and leave. Do not switch on lights or use a phone indoors.
4. Text instead of calling: SMS gets through when voice networks are jammed.
5. Be ready to drop, cover and hold on again the moment the next aftershock starts.

What has to happen beforehand for those 60 seconds to matter

Your response during shaking only works if the room is not coming down on you. Anchoring tall shelving, the television and the water heater, and keeping heavy frames off the wall above beds and sofas, changes the outcome more than any decision you can make in the moment.