Ways To Safeguard Your Home During An Earthquake

On Sunday, Oklahoma felt another big one, when a 5.0 magnitude earthquake hit Cushing.

On September 3, 2016, Oklahoma felt its largest earthquake to date. The 5.8 magnitude quake in Pawnee measured 5.8, slightly larger than the 5.6 in Prague back in 2011. The increase in quakes has prompted some homeowners to take action to prevent damage to their homes.

9/5/2016 Related Story: Pawnee Earthquake Officially The Largest In State History

"You can't predict everything that could happen in a home," said Dan Campbell with ShakeSafe.

However, Campbell has seen firsthand what could happen after an earthquake.

"House coming down, post disaster fires," he said.

He worked in construction in California following the devastating Northridge earthquake in 1994. Now he's taken what he's learned there to try and help homeowners here in Oklahoma.

"This is what it's all about, it's insurance," he said.

He installs safety products to prevent further damage during an earthquake. He says plumbing and pipes are easy targets during an earthquake, so he suggests straps to hold your water heater in place. He also suggests a seismic safety valve for your gas line.

"If your wall were to fall over, roof torn off, this would sense the vibration from the damage and automatically shut the gas off," Campbell said. "These are required out in LA."

Jim Gendrill is a forensic structural engineer. He says most of the earthquake damage he sees is cosmetic.

"We don't really have the serious earthquakes like they have in California, but we still have things that can shake, we've had chimneys collapse because of the earthquake movement," Gendrill said.

However, he agrees homeowners need to be proactive.

"We've had them in the 5.1 area or greater and it could get bigger, you just never can tell," said Gendrill. "It's just this peace of mind kind of thing that if something catastrophic happens that you're prepared for it."

And for some, it's money well spent. George Keyser use Campbell's expertise to safeguard his daughter's home.

"I like for my daughter to be safe and what have you and it just seemed like good insurance to make sure the gas is shut off in case we did have a tornado or big earthquake," Keyser said.

Campbell also uses appliance and electronic restraints to secure items in the home and braces for furniture and shelving. Experts say a lot of the safety precautions and products you can do yourself to save money.