Household seismic safety The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view . Please improve the article or discuss the issue on the talk page . This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article . Please improve it or discuss changes on the talk page . See Wikipedia 's guide to writing better articles for suggestions . Contributions of photographs related to details of preparation are needed . This Household seismic safety is concerned with the following : Appropriate securing of household furnishings and appliances so as not to be a hazard to the occupants . Preparations that will assist a household 's ability to live independently for several days after an event . These methods are applicable to any area subject to large disabling disasters that may overwhelm emergency response groups . Immediate responses appropriate to large seismic event . Introduction Seismic and seismic event refer to earthquakes , motions of the ground that can be hazardous to the occupants of buildings and the security and utility of structures such as bridges and tunnels . Methods to reduce hazards to structures ( presently including low rise houses ) are described in seismic retrofit . Present Safety Concerns There remains much that can be done to enhance home safety by the occupants , even if they are inexperienced mechanically , and some of these methods ( such as securing water heaters ) may be shown in some detail . Pamphlets showing application of these methods in greater detail are also available from public agencies , but often these show only a minimal and simplistic installation . Effective securing of household equipment and furnishings may require some thought - mostly along the lines of `` what could happen '' , `` how heavy is this '' , and `` where are the strong points to secure to '' . It does little good to screw the back of a bookcase to a wall if the back is ( as is common ) weakly attached to the bookcase structure . Similarly , an expansion bolt through drywall may simply pull through if the load is heavy - one must locate and use stout screws into the underlying wood stud structure . Preparedness goes beyond mere structure . In a large event it is expected that police , firefighting , and medical assistance will be overwhelmed , and many hospitals may be damaged to a point of unusablility . The recommendations are that a household should have sufficient water and preserved food to live independently for three days and that all houshold members should be trained in medical first aid . In some regions there are shops specializing in providing emergency equipment , supplies and containers to the homeowner . There is also considerable neglect at the community level  : Are you and your neighbors prepared to assist one another ? Do you know who has first aid skills ? Can you do CPR ? Do you know emergency treatment for broken bones , burns , and bleeding ? Do you know how to shut off your gas supply ( and have an appropriate wrench nearby the valve ) ? Do you know what to do about a downed and live high voltage line touching an occupied vehicle ? Do you have several fire extinguishers available ? There are many levels of detail in approach to securing a residence , ranging from providing large steel beams to reinforce a large garage door opening down to putting small dots of `` earthquake '' wax under small valuable items . Objects within buildings Any massive or tall object within a structure should be securely fastened to that structure , through bolts , screws , or strap hinges , so that the object does not move around during an earthquake . Securing appliances and wood stoves Usually , appliances using natural gas are connected to the ductile iron supply pipes with a flexible corrugated tubing made from a relatively soft material , such as brass . It is important that the appliance be properly secured , or at least restrained in its maximum motion , so that it cannot extend and tear the flexible connection . Free standing natural gas stoves — which in older homes may not be surrounded by cabinetry , but are simply set down upon the kitchen floor — require some form of restraint . If necessary to move the stove small distances for cleaning , such restraint may be provided by sturdy cables which must be attached to strong locations on both the stove and the wall of the kitchen . Stoves attached within cabinets may be a hazard if the cabinets themselves are weakly attached to the building structure . Gas fireplace inserts , both decorative and functional , must also be restrained . Some form of restraining clip should be installed that may be easily removed when necessary . Wood Franklin stoves and pellet stoves , often placed upon a hearth in front of a fireplace or with a separate pipe , are often quite heavy , and must be secured to a substantial member of the flooring system using fire safe methods . Water heaters of any type , gas or electric , must be rigidly attached to the building structure , as when filled with water they are all quite heavy . When the building moves , the inertia of the water mass is sufficient to break the connecting water pipes , or to slide the bottom of the tank about , with the gas or electrical connections now at risk . All water heaters should be secured in every horizontal direction and at the top and bottom with wood or metal blocking and corrosion-resistant steel straps . Securing furnishings Items permanently bolted to the building structure are technically considered to be part of the structure ( as would be a built-in bookcase ) , so if the house is sold such items should be noted as exceptions . Renters should also obtain written permission to both secure the furnishings an a waiver allowing their removal at the termination of tennancy . The china hutch These will often be comprised of two units - a drawer unit as a base and a cabinent on top . If only the top is secured to the wall the attachments must be capable of holding the entire weight of the upper portion . Security of the doors from opening is also required , using a method suitable for kitchen cabinents . The cabinet will usually have glass panels , so it is not appropriate to store or display items within ( such as a stone sculpture ) that have enough mass to break the front glass or glass shelves inside of the cabinent . One method of security allows the removal of the unit for cleaning or painting the wall behind or the floor underneath . Heavy hinges may be easilly obtained that have a removable pin . To compensate for minor errors in location a new pin should be fabricated that is slightly smaller than the original pin . Additional means of preventing the pin from sliding out must be provided . If the wall structure behind the hutch is wood frame with plaster or plasterboard ( drywall ) overlay , then at each location it is necessary to accurately locate the wall studs , in order to avoid splitting the stud . If the wall uses metal studs then it will be necessary to use appropriate toggle bolts through holes the studs , or to open the wall and insert wood filler blocks , while masonry will require specialized expansion bolts or epoxied threaded stock ( all-thread ) . Positioning vertically is also critical , and should be done by using the full hinge and the hutch as a guide for the vertical posistioning . The hinges must also have ( or be drilled for ) bolt locations alligned with the studs . The hinges are then disassembled and mounted to the wall . The remaining portion of the hinge is mounted to the top of the hutch . If the hutch top not thick enough to receive appropriately large wood screews , then bolts with large washers should be used . Other methods may be required if the hutch has a very thin top , or a decortive barrel top , unsutable for direct mounting . It may instead be necssary to add internal braces to the furnishing , which can then be through-bolted to the wall . Top of hutch secured to wall Half hinges bolted to studs Half hinge detail Top of hutch half hinge and pin Bookcases Bookcases need not only to be secured , it is also necessary to secure also each shelf and its contents . Each shelf should be secured from sliding out as a unit , and the shelf , if used for book storage , should have a lip at the lower edge . The space between shelves should be such that the books will not tip forward off of the shelf ( pivoting about the lip ) , but rather should first strike the shelf above ( which itself must be securely fastened ) . A book is easily removed by lifting it up slightly so that it will slide over the lip . Most shelving units have very thin backs that are not capable of restraining the unit . Instead , the top part of the case should be fastened to studs in the wall using angle brackets . Addtional brackets may be required internally to secure the top to the sides . Small items Small decorative items should be secured using Velcro or a putty known as `` earthquake wax '' . It may be necessary to remove felt padding from the bottom of the object in order to apply either substance . Larger mobile items Specialty suppliers can provide a rubber-like mat that increases the friction between an object and the surface upon which it rests . This does not assure security of the item but will protect it in minor events . Kitchen cabinets Most modern cabinets are factory built , or custom built to specification , and then installed within the kitchen . These will often have poorely attached backs , being held only by staples , but will usually have a cross brace through which screws are attached to the building structure . Older buildings or some modern custom work may have `` built in place '' cabinetry . Even if the cabinets have a modern appearance , they may be a simple `` reface '' of this older type . Security is important and it may be necessary to add additional blocking above , below , or to the interior of cabinet structure so that the cabinet may be well affixed to a structural member of the wall . Child proofing Child proof latches are also useful to retain the contents within the cabinets . While very old cabinets were sometimes made with a mechanical latch that had to be manually operated , more modern cabinets typically use gravity , friction , or magnetism to keep the cabinet door lightly closed . The child proof latch allows the door to be partially opened but prevents complete opening until operated by hand . Of course , caution must be used when opening such cabinets after a seismic event . Additonal information See ABAG Steps for Making Your Home Safer ( not concerning structural modification ) by the Association of Bay Area Governments . See also Emergency management Seismic retrofit Categories : Limited geographic scope | Wikipedia articles needing style editing 