Earthquake! How to survive when driving on shaky ground

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Updated Nov 30, 2018

When your peaceful drive gets interrupted by severe vibrations or worse, you could be driving through an earthquake. Especially, if you are in one of these top 10 most earthquake prone states. Truckers who’ve driven in one say at first it feels like something’s wrong with your truck. Another clue of a possible quake is seeing cars pulling over to the side of the road or damaged bridges and overpasses.

Once it’s over – well, it might not be really over. There could be aftershocks, causing the ground to shake, crack or fault even further. If you’re in a mountainous area, beware of mudslides. Get to higher ground if you’re near an ocean since there’s risk of a tsunami, or if you’re aware of a nearby dam that could be damaged.

Watch this short video, part of Overdrive’s 30-second Trucker Tip series, which tell you what to do and how to survive the emergency. Check out some other worst case videos like this one about feeling the heat! If you are still feeling a little shaky, it might be time to pull out your earthquake survival kit.

Earthquake survival kit

  • First-aid kit
  • Flashlight
  • Handheld radio
  • Bottles of water
  • Fire extinguisher
  • Book of matches
  • Maps (the paper kind!) of local areas
  • Prescription medicines
  • Cookies, chocolate bars and/or glucose tablets

Sources: earthquake.usgs.gov and www.fema.gov

To submit an idea for your scariest trucking-related disaster, visit OverdriveOnline.com/worstcase, where you also can see the original 10 worst-case scenarios.

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