What makes an earthquake kit different
A 72-hour kit is the foundation. An earthquake kit adds for the specific aftermath: structural damage, broken glass, gas leaks, and the very real chance you'll be moving through debris in the dark.
- Earthquake scenario template — adds sturdy shoes under the bed, gas-shutoff wrench taped near the meter, pry bar, N95 dust masks, glow sticks, work gloves.
- Offline first-aid library — CDC and Ready.gov first-aid references readable with no signal. Cell towers go down for hours or days after a major quake.
- Family-member profiles — health notes, medications, emergency contacts. Coordinating under stress is easier when everything's in one place.
- Household reserve tracker — know how many days of water and food you have. Post-quake assessments often take longer than 72 hours.
Drop · Cover · Hold On
The correct guidance from USGS and FEMA remains: drop to your hands and knees, take cover under a sturdy table or against an interior wall, hold on until the shaking stops. The full action guide — before, during, after — lives in the earthquake preparedness checklist on Field Notes.
Tested by people who've lived through it
Vetted from primary sources.
Every template and library piece in GoBagPlus is sourced from FEMA, the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, the American Red Cross, and Ready.gov.