KMS students prepare for the next big earthquake

Everyone has been talking about the Sendai earthquake—either about the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima or the tremendous loss of lives from the time the initial wave hit until now. At KMS, students went one step further and prepared for the anticipated earthquake in California.

“We [students] have talked about how citizens in Japan are trying their best to rebuild their cities and fix the nuclear sites,” KMS student Vincent Tran said. “Unfortunately, our teachers have not talked to students too much about earthquake preparedness.”

Students compiled lists of items by themselves that they would need in the event of an emergency, be it an earthquake, tsunami, or other disaster. They then followed through by making them. KMS student Suhas Anand made an earthquake pack after he saw his friends making theirs, and knows others who have made evacuation plans to be used in the event of an earthquake.

“I learned to keep liquids and dry foods with some flash lights and whistles to alert anyone searching the buildings in case we were trapped or hurt,” Anand said about the packs.

For KMS student Daniel Vu, preparing for a potential earthquake was a family decision.

“Our family just felt that it was needed,” Vu said. “Even though the big earthquake that was supposed to happen didn’t, we still kept our backpack handy in case of an unwarned one.”

Whether the “next big one” hits in a month, a year, or not at all, these students will be prepared with their earthquake packs to confront it.

After all, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the nuclear meltdowns in Japan, it’s that prevention is better than the cure.

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