Given recent seismic activity in our area, the Dallas Office of Emergency Management offers the following suggestions for being safe during an earthquake.

1. Don’t run during the shaking. Most injuries are from falling objects, not collapsing buildings.
2. Drop, cover and hold under a desk or table within the first 3-4 seconds of shaking. Stay there until the shaking stops.
3. If you are in a place without a table, get low! Think beneath, beside, between.
Getting beneath any desk or table is the best option. Sit beside an inside wall. Get low beside heavy furniture. Crouch low between rows of chairs in a movie theater, church or stadium. Get low beside and beneath the level of a grocery cart in the supermarket.
4. If you are outside in an open area… Sit down and cover your head with your arms.
5. If you are outside close to a building… Move into the building and find a safe place. Immediately outside a building is called the “danger zone”.

NOTE: Doorways are NOT a recommended safe place in an earthquake. It’s difficult to stay in the doorway during the shaking and the door often causes injury when it swings open and closed during the shaking.

See this Dallas DropCoverHold handout for more information.