What's With All These Earthquakes?
Yesterday I woke to the news that there was yet another major earthquake: this time in Turkey. So within the last eight weeks, a rattler was felt in the Chicago area, off the coast of California, Haiti, Chile and now Turkey. Not just the day-to-day barely noticeable shakes, but major earthquakes. I wonder what's going on with the earth's plates? Fault lines exist along the east coast. Will an earthquake hit here in New Jersey?
I didn't become frought with worry, but I did go so far as to hunt for our old earthquake emergency kit in the basement from our days living in California. I went through it with my four year old, explaining the strange treasures as we pulled them out one by one: solar blanket, solar radio, rain parkas, water boxes - these were all so foreign and funny to him. Had we remained in Cali, I would have shown him this kit before now, and we'd have purchased new ones every couple of years, replacing the food items as they approached their perishable dates and replacing our backup outfits and shoes every so often as well. (What really made me laugh was that my "backup outfit" were maternity clothes.)
Once we left the earthquake-prone zone, we kind of forgot about the home disaster prep and kit. Even when living there, we didn't think about it much, except when we made sure our babysitters knew where to find it before we took off on dates in Cali. We've become lax since leaving the state, pointing out emergency numbers and where the first aid items are stored before fleeing to our event or show these days. When we lived in Chicago, we were conditioned to listen for tornado warning sirens and practiced tornado and fire drills regularly in childcare, school and work settings.
Now that we're in New Jersey, we don't practice those things as often. Fire drills, yes. But tsunami, earthquake or tornado warnings? Not so much. I can't think of the last time I saw a emergency route designated on the side of a road here. I don't expect for these disasters to strike, but even if I did, there's nothing I can do to stop them. The most I can do is review our plan and make sure my son knows as much of it as a preschooler could possibly understand.
This is an original post for New Jersey Moms Blog by Heidi. She talks tech, toys and life around The Big Apple at Coast to Coast Mom and regularly contributes to NYMetropolista, Techlicious and WriteOn! Online.
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