Yes you must exit the building you’re in and make for clear, high ground if possible. If you’re in a high rise and cannot make it outside quickly you should take shelter close to or under something that is likely to hold up in case the ceiling caves in. Because you know, earthquakes are that serious. They are deadly; take it from someone who saw a building collapse killing many people right in front of her eyes during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. As to what not to do in an earthquake, here’s a ready reckoner:
Do not update your Facebook
Sure we know how important Facebook is to you, but it may be a good idea to run for cover before telling the world that you’re experiencing a seismological event that is causing the fan to swing and the furniture to rattle noisily. Plenty of time for that… if you survive.
Don’t do that
I’m sure it’s fascinating to see how the window pane rattles and how the figurines on the shelf appear to be spontaneously exploding. But you have a life to save: your own. So do the smart thing and don’t let the jiggly jelly distract you from concentrating on survival.
Not a good time to check yourself out
A large mirror or a window is probably the worst place to be when there is an earthquake. It can shatter and you’re going to get in the way. And it really, really won’t matter what you look like or what you have on when they come to dig you out of the rubble anyway.
Do NOT tweet a smiling selfie
This guy taking is selfie with people milling around, probably looking for survivors and the nation’s history in shambles behind him was lynched later (or should have been). Perhaps it’s just me, but I think even you may be a bit miffed if some idiot was posing and smiling into a camera next to a building that was reduced to rubble; particularly if that building was yours.
Do not feel dismayed that you didn’t feel a thing
Just feel very, very lucky. And if you updated your status with that, prepare to receive anonymous hate mail. At the very least.
Do not mark yourself safe
You’re safe in Delhi when the earthquake was 3000 km away and a hundred km below the earth’s surface in Myanmar? Fascinating! Lucky, lucky escape you had. And everyone was an tenterhooks waiting to know. Not! Next time use that particular Facebook feature right after you’ve been pulled out of a landslide on a Vaishno Devi trip; you know when there was an actual apprehension of people actually wondering if you were alive and all.
Author – Reena Daruwalla
