Quake Safe Your Home

When I visited Te Papa Museum in Wellington recently, I went through the earthquake exhibits. amazing, scary and . . . "But that won't happen to me." Wonder how many in Christchurch had thought the same?

One of the new things I learned in that exhibit was the practice of putting some sort of adhesive under things that sit on flat surfaces. They suggested a drop of wax, Blu-tac or non-slip mats.

At that exhibit, I also went through the shaky house. It had warning signs on it to encourage you to hold on and be prepared for violent action. They did not issue helmets or elbow pads, but that might have been good.

People this week said their real life experiences were many times what that museum Earthquake House demonstrated. Many of them are have having a hard time relaxing to sleep.

Fix. Fasten. Forget.

• Secure hot water cylinders and header tanks
• Check that your house is secured to its foundations
• Secure your chimney with galvanised metal bands
• Secure tall furniture to the wall studs
• Secure wood burners to the floor
• Store heavy objects low down
• Use non-slip mats under smaller appliances and objects
• Use plastic putty (Blu Tack) to secure ornaments
• Push picture and mirror hooks closed
• Have flexible gas and plumbing fittings installed.

For more information on how to Quake Safe your Home, visit www.eq-iq.org.nz

Also see our brochure - People, Property and Natural Disasters (PDF 1Mb)

EQCover is New Zealand's Earthquake Commission’s natural disaster insurance scheme. It insures homes, land and personal belongings against the following:

• Earthquakes,
• Landslips,
• Tsunami,
• Volcanic eruption,
• Hydrothermal activity,
• Storm or flood damage - TO LAND ONLY.
• Fire following any of the above.

0800 326 243 EQC Making a Claim