Quick answer
Earthquakes give no warning, and in serious quake country the standard is two weeks of self-sufficiency, not three days. For 4 people that is 56 gallons of water and about 112,000 calories of no-cook food, plus the ten-dollar fixes that matter most: strapping the water heater and anchoring the bookcases. Drop, cover, and hold on is the drill; the shopping list below is the aftermath plan.
Numbers are set for 4 people. Change your household size below and every quantity updates.
0 min
Warning time
2 weeks
Supply target in quake country
Magnitude 7+
One strikes somewhere most months
$10
Water heater strap, the best buy in prep
How an earthquake actually unfolds
The 30 seconds
Drop, cover, hold on. Under a table beats a doorway. The shaking itself is survivable almost everywhere in the US; the falling bookcase is the more common injury.
The first hour
Aftershocks continue. Shoes before walking, gas off if you smell it, shut the main water valve to trap the clean water already in your pipes and heater.
Days 1 to 3
Utilities are down across the region. Stores are closed or stripped. You live entirely off what was in the house at the moment it shook.
Weeks 1 to 2
Water mains take the longest. This is why quake-country guidance says two weeks: the taps are the last thing to come back.
Play it out
Thirty seconds, three decisions
A Tuesday afternoon quake, played honestly. Two of these decisions happen before the ground ever moves.
Scene 1 of 3
A random Saturday, months before. You watch a video about securing furniture and glance at the six-foot bookcase beside the kids' play corner, held to the wall by gravity and optimism.
Prefer to read it straight through?
Scene 1
A random Saturday, months before. You watch a video about securing furniture and glance at the six-foot bookcase beside the kids' play corner, held to the wall by gravity and optimism.
If you it has stood there for years. it's fine: It probably is, right up until the one afternoon it is not. Unsecured tall furniture is one of the most common earthquake injuries, and the fix costs less than lunch.
If you spend 20 minutes with two straps and a stud finder: Two L-brackets, one water-heater strap, and the tallest things in your house are now part of the wall. This is the least glamorous prep that exists and one of the most effective.
Field note: In a quake, the house usually holds. The furniture, the TV, and the 50-gallon water heater are what move. Strapping them is a one-hour, twenty-dollar project.
Scene 2
Tuesday, 2:14pm. The floor rolls. It is loud in a way movies never capture, and it lasts twenty seconds that feel like ninety. You are in the kitchen; the kids are in the living room.
If you run to the kids mid-shake: Every parent's reflex, and the era of moving is exactly when floors throw people. You arrive with a sprained wrist from the hallway wall. The kids, who did the drill at school, are already under the table.
If you drop, cover, hold on, and shout the same to them: You are under the kitchen table; they are under the coffee table because school drilled it into them. Twenty seconds later everyone crawls out fine. Moving during shaking is how people get hurt; the drill exists for the reflex.
Field note: Drop, cover, and hold on outperforms running in nearly every US building type. Practice it twice a year and the reflex overrides the panic.
Scene 3
2:20pm. Shaking over, everyone fine, power out, one cabinet of dishes on the floor. Your phone still works. The first aftershock rolls through, smaller.
If you start sweeping up the kitchen in socks: The classic. The most common post-quake injury in US emergency rooms is cut feet, and it always happens in the first thirty minutes. You'll remember shoes right after you don't.
If you shoes on everyone, then check gas, then shut the water main: Boots, a sniff test at the stove, and one twist of the main valve just banked the 50 clean gallons sitting in your water heater and pipes. Now you sweep. That is the whole first-hour protocol.
Field note: Shutting your main water valve right after a quake traps the clean water already in the house: a strapped water heater alone holds 40 to 50 gallons, two weeks for a family of four.
The earthquake checklist
People in your household
One page per scenario: quantities resize in place, and the link you share always shows this plan.
Your head start
0 of 14 days covered
0 of 13 essentials on hand
Tick what you already own.Save this as your real plan →Supplies buy you days. Gear keeps those days livable. Most families discover they start around day 3.
| Item | For 4 people | Why it matters | Covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before the shaking, one Saturday | ||||
| Water heater strap kit | 1 kit | Keeps 50 gallons of emergency water standing instead of on the garage floor. | Best buy | |
| Furniture straps and L-brackets | 1 per tall piece | Bookcases, dressers, and the TV are the most common quake injuries. | Before | |
| Gas shutoff wrench, zip-tied at the meter | 1 | Only shut gas off if you smell it. If you do, the wrench must already be there. | Before | |
| Shoes and gloves under every bed | 4 pairs | Night quakes plus broken glass is the classic ER visit. Ten seconds of reaching prevents it. | Before | |
| Water · 56 gallons total | ||||
| Bottled water, 24-pack cases | 11 cases (about 34 gal) | Sealed, portable, splits between rooms and the car. | Days 1 to 9 | |
| 5-gallon water jugs | 5 jugs | The cheapest gallons you can store. Fill spares before the event, not during. | Days 10 to 14 | |
| Water purification tablets | 1 pack | Turns suspect tap or tub water into drinking water after day 14. | Backup | |
| Food, no cooking required | ||||
| Canned protein: tuna, chicken, beans | 36 cans | Eats straight from the can when the stove is out. | No cooking | |
| Canned vegetables and fruit | 40 cans | Fluids and vitamins while the fridge is dark. | No cooking | |
| Peanut butter | 4 large jars | 2,650 calories per jar, no prep, kids will actually eat it. | No cooking | |
| Crackers, tortillas, granola bars | 8 boxes plus a dozen bars | The bread aisle empties first. These keep for months instead of days. | No cooking | |
| Oats and shelf-stable milk | 12 cartons plus a canister of oats | Breakfast without power, and the milk needs no fridge until opened. | No cooking | |
| Power, light, and news | ||||
| Flashlights or headlamps | 5 flashlights | One per person plus a spare. Candles start fires in dark houses. | All week | |
| Batteries in every size you use | 2 packs per size | The thing that runs out on day 2 if you guess. | All week | |
| Phone battery banks, fully charged | 2 banks | Your phone is your flashlight, radio, and lifeline. Top the banks up the moment trouble is forecast. | All week | |
| NOAA weather radio, battery or crank | 1 | When cell towers and wifi fail, official updates still reach you here. | All week | |
| Health and documents | ||||
| First aid kit | 1 | Minor injuries spike during cleanup, exactly when help is hardest to reach. | All week | |
| Prescription medications | 14-day supply each | Pharmacies reopen slowly. Ask your pharmacist about an emergency refill before you need it. | 2 weeks | |
| Documents in a waterproof bag | IDs, insurance, cash in small bills | ATMs and card readers die with the power. | Grab and go | |
| Manual can opener | 1 | Most of the calories above are locked inside cans without it. | Critical | |
Two weeks looks like a lot on paper. It is the same grocery categories as one week, doubled, and it stores in about three totes plus a shelf. Print this page to take it shopping.
In the app
Two weeks of supplies is a lot to track on paper
Provision Planner has a built-in Earthquake scenario. Add your supplies once and it tells you how many days you would last, flags what expires, and keeps the two-week target honest as your shelves change. Your plan works offline, which matters for exactly this scenario.
Run the earthquake scenarioEarthquake scenario
Water
9 days
Food
16 days
Offline access
On
Expiring this month
3 items
Computed from your real inventory. Updates itself as things expire.
Frequently asked questions
Why two weeks for earthquakes when other scenarios say three days?
Because a major quake damages the infrastructure that response depends on: roads, bridges, and water mains. Emergency managers in Washington, Oregon, and California moved their guidance to two weeks for exactly that reason. Water mains are routinely the slowest utility to return.
Is a doorway the safest place?
No, that is outdated advice from unreinforced adobe buildings. In a modern US home the doorway is no stronger than any other wall and puts you in the path of a swinging door. Get under a sturdy table: drop, cover, and hold on.
What is the single best earthquake prep under $20?
A water heater strap. It protects 40 to 50 gallons of clean drinking water and removes a gas-line fire risk in one ten-dollar part. Strapping tall furniture is a close second.
Should I turn off the gas after every quake?
Only if you smell gas, hear hissing, or see the meter spinning. Utilities relight pilot lights on their schedule, not yours, and an unnecessary shutoff can leave you without heat for days. Keep the wrench at the meter and use your nose.
Explore more scenarios
Every scenario gets the same treatment: the event, the supplies, the timeline, and your number.
Scenario 15House Fire
Scenario 06Power Outage
Scenario 10Water Outage
Scenario 19Gas Leak and Carbon Monoxide
Scenario 16Evacuation34 scenarios, one libraryBrowse them all →Go deeper: Earthquake Kit Checklist · 2-Week Supply Plan for 4 People · Food Storage Calculator
Drill and shutoff guidance follows Ready.gov, USGS, and the Great ShakeOut. Supply targets follow the two-week standard used by west-coast emergency management agencies. This is general planning guidance: adjust for your building type and your household's needs.