Time to Be Prepared | Clare

The recent earthquake in Nepal has been all over the news. It is sad to see so much destruction and I cannot imagine how difficult it would be for the people affected to pick up the pieces and move on when the life they came to know was destroyed in just minutes. It made me think of how life is so precious and how anytime it can be taken away from you and there is nothing you can do about it.

The earthquake also got me thinking about how our country is said to be due for a big one. I think I’ve heard this a lot over the past five years. I’ve read about how a big magnitude earthquake happens at least every four hundred years or so and it is likely that a big one will happen in our lifetime. I have experienced scary earthquakes and knowing that they weren’t the big ones yet makes me worry – is our country ready for something like that? Apart from the earthquake drills and whatnot, are we ready structure-wise?

I found an article on Rappler about how we can be sure that our homes are earthquake-ready and safe by answering a set of 12 questions about your home. From what I can tell, our home is safe…but how about others? How about the buildings we go to? The schools, churches, malls, hospitals…are all these places ready? I hope that the government is actively inspecting everything to ensure that all structures are safe and ready for any earthquake that may happen.

More than anything, now that I have nephews and a niece who I care about like crazy, I worry about things like this because I want to make sure that they are safe always. I may not be their mother, but that motherly instinct to protect them is definitely there.

I hope that people are doing their part in checking that their homes are safe and that everyone is aware of what to do during an earthquake just in case. It’s better to be prepared than to be left to panic at the last minute.

Heard there have been earthquakes in nearby Thailand. It wouldn’t hurt to just be aware and prepare right?

Photo Source: World Harvest