What to Do During an Earthquake

Drop, Cover and Hold On

When the ground starts shaking, don't wait to see how strong it gets. Most earthquake injuries come from things that fall or fly across the room, not from buildings collapsing, so the goal of the first few seconds is to get low and protect your head.

1. Drop to your hands and knees where you are. Strong shaking can knock you over, and this position still lets you crawl.
2. Cover your head and neck with one arm and hand. If a sturdy table or desk is a step or two away, crawl under it. If not, crawl next to an interior wall, away from windows, stay on your knees and bend over to protect your chest and stomach.
3. Hold On until the shaking stops. Hold the table leg with your free hand, and if the table slides, move with it.

Use a wheelchair or walker? Lock, Cover and Hold On. Lock your wheels, bend over and cover your head and neck with your arms, a book or a pillow. With a walker, get as low as you safely can.

Stay down until the shaking has fully stopped, then look around for hazards before you move.

What to Do Wherever You Are

In Bed

Stay in bed. Lie face down and cover your head and neck with a pillow. Getting up in the dark means walking over broken glass and fallen objects.

Driving

Pull over, stop and set the parking brake. Avoid stopping on or under a bridge or overpass, or under trees, light posts, power lines and signs. Stay in the car until the shaking stops, then drive on carefully.

Outdoors

If you can do it safely, move into the open, away from buildings, trees, power lines, signs and vehicles. Then drop, cover your head and neck, and hold on.

In the Mountains and Canyons

Much of Utah lives and plays below steep slopes. In a canyon or on a trail, watch for falling rock, landslides and trees that shaking can knock loose, and get away from the base of cliffs if you can.

In an Office or High-Rise

Drop, cover and hold on under a desk, away from windows. Don't use the elevators, during the shaking or after it.

In a Store

Get down next to a shopping cart or under a clothing rack and cover your head and neck. Don't run for the exit.

In a Stadium or Theater

Drop to the ground in front of your seat, or lean over as far as you can, and cover your head and neck. When the shaking stops, walk out slowly and watch for anything that could still fall in an aftershock.

What Not to Do During an Earthquake

• Don't run outside. Glass, bricks and other parts of buildings fall during shaking, and the area just outside a building is where they land. After the 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquake, 90% of the deaths linked to unreinforced brick buildings were people outside, hit by collapsing walls and parapets.
• Don't stand in a doorway. In modern homes a doorway is no stronger than the rest of the house, and it doesn't protect you from flying objects. The advice is decades out of date.
• Don't follow the "triangle of life." The idea of curling up beside furniture instead of under it has been rejected by earthquake safety experts, and the USGS calls it misguided. Get under a table or against an interior wall.
• Don't move to another room while the ground is shaking. Stay where you are until it stops.
• Don't use elevators until the building has been checked.

How to Prepare for an Earthquake

The safest spot in an earthquake is one where nothing heavy can fall on you. Most of the work happens long before the shaking does.

Secure What Can Fall

Fasten bookcases, dressers, TVs, refrigerators and anything hung on the walls. Keep heavy and breakable things on low shelves, and nothing heavy above beds or couches.

Strap the Water Heater

Utah's plumbing code has required water heaters to be anchored against earthquake motion, with one strap in the upper third of the tank and one in the lower third. Check yours, especially in an older home.

Know Your Gas Shutoff

Find your gas meter and the shutoff valve, and keep a wrench nearby. Only turn the gas off if you smell gas or hear a hissing or blowing sound, because once it is off, only the gas company or a qualified professional should turn it back on. When you practice, don't actually close the valve.

Make a Family Plan

Decide where your household will meet and pick an out-of-state contact everyone can text. Local phone lines jam after a large earthquake, but texts often get through. Make sure everyone knows where the kit is, then build your earthquake kit.

Practice Every April

The Great Utah ShakeOut is held every year on the third Thursday of April. Families, schools and offices practice Drop, Cover and Hold On at the same time. You can also register a drill for any other day.

Know Your Building

More than 140,000 unreinforced masonry buildings, older brick buildings with few or no steel reinforcing bars, stand along the Wasatch Front. Most were built before they were prohibited in the 1970s, and most of the injuries and deaths expected in a large Wasatch Fault earthquake are linked to them. If you live in a brick home built before about 1975, a structural engineer can tell you whether it needs a retrofit. Common fixes tie the roof to the walls and brace the chimney. Salt Lake City's Fix the Bricks program has helped low-income homeowners pay for these retrofits, though it was not taking new applications as of November 2026.

Look Into Earthquake Insurance

Standard homeowners and renters policies don't cover earthquake damage; coverage is bought separately. A few details matter:

• The deductible is a percentage of your dwelling coverage, not of the loss, so it can be large.
• New policies usually have a waiting period of 10 to 30 days.
• Most insurers stop writing new earthquake coverage for a while right after an earthquake, so it can't be bought in a hurry.
• Shocks within a 72-hour period count as a single earthquake.

What to Do After an Earthquake

1. Expect aftershocks. Drop, cover and hold on again each time the ground shakes. Aftershocks can continue for weeks or months.
2. Check for injuries. Give first aid if you can. Don't move anyone who is seriously hurt unless they are in further danger.
3. Get out of damaged buildings. If your building is damaged, go outside and move away from it, and don't go back in until it has been checked.
4. Smell gas or hear hissing? Open a window, get everyone out and shut off the gas at the meter. Call the gas company from outside. Don't light matches, candles, lighters or stoves until you are sure there is no leak.
5. Text, don't call. Keep phone lines free for emergencies. If you are trapped, send a text or bang on a pipe or wall so rescuers can find you.
6. Plan to look after yourselves. Firefighters, police and paramedics may not be available right away after a large earthquake.
7. Check the live map. See the magnitude, time and location on the live Utah earthquake map once it's located.

Utah's Earthquake Risk in Numbers

Preparing is worth it here. Utah has had 17 earthquakes larger than magnitude 5.5 since pioneer settlement in 1847, according to the Utah Earthquake Program, and a 2016 forecast gives the Wasatch Front a 43% chance of at least one magnitude 6.75 or larger earthquake in the next 50 years.

For a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch Fault, FEMA's loss model estimates 2,000 to 2,750 deaths, 8,000 to 10,000 injuries and roughly 78,000 displaced households. Much of that toll comes from the unreinforced brick buildings described above, which is why securing your home and knowing what to do in the first seconds matter so much.

The largest earthquakes in the state's recorded history are in our guide to Utah earthquake history.