CONTENTS
Fear of earthquakes that occur at night
It is a bit of a fright when an earthquake early warning suddenly rings out at 3:00 a.m. If it was a large earthquake, furniture may fall toward you. You rush outside to evacuate, but the power is out, the street lights are pitch black, and the only light you can rely on is the moonlight. We don’t want to imagine such a situation, but it could happen.
Have you ever thought about the fear of such earthquakes occurring at night? For many people, earthquakes that occur during sleeping hours pose a different danger than those that occur during the daytime.
The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred in the early morning hours of January 17, 1995, and the Kumamoto Earthquake occurred during the night of April 14 and early morning of April 16, 2016. Both were major earthquakes that occurred during nighttime hours.
When an earthquake occurs at night and the power goes out, various dangers increase. The risk of injury is even greater than during the daytime, such as tripping and falling over furniture without noticing it toppling over, stepping on scattered pieces of glass, or failing to escape.
In the event of an evacuation, you will have to walk outside in the dark with no streetlights, and you may not be able to recognize things that you could avoid in the daytime, such as collapsed block walls and broken windows, and you may get injured.
What is dangerous in the bedroom?
How much furniture and appliances are in your bedroom?
When an earthquake strikes, furniture and appliances in the bedroom, such as wardrobes, desks & chairs, TVs, humidifiers, and indirect lighting, may fall or fly toward you as you sleep. There is also a possibility that fallen furniture could block the exit and trap you.
In addition, broken window glass could fall, stylish hanging lights could fall, and even picture frames displayed near the bed or mugs of hot milk drunk before bed could fall overhead or scatter on the floor and become risk factors.
Even if the house you have been living in is safe, some people may die in their rooms due to furniture falls or become trapped and fail to escape. Please take the time to check what is in your own bedroom.
What is the bedroom for a safe night’s sleep?
If an earthquake occurs while you are sleeping, your reaction will likely be delayed one step and your initial response will be delayed. Let’s take a fresh look at the layout of your bedroom to minimize damage as much as possible.
It will be important to keep things out of the bedroom as much as possible.
That said, in many cases it may be difficult to do so in practical terms, so check one thing at a time that you can put into practice right away, such as keeping things off the floor, fixing furniture so that it will not move, and creating a layout that will not block the path of furniture even if it falls over.
Reviewed a minimum of 8 items to make the bedrooms mitigable.
- Is there anything placed near the door that would block the path if it fell?
- Are there any tall furniture or appliances on the floor? (If so, are they secured with metal fittings or propping rods?)
- Are you sleeping near a window? (Do you have anti-scattering film or curtains?)
- Are there any objects around the bed that you don’t want to fall out?
- Are there things scattered on the floor that you don’t want to step on?
- Do you have a flashlight or emergency light within reach in case of a sudden power outage?
- Do you have a helmet, shoes, or other items nearby to protect yourself?
- Do you have a whistle, cell phone, or other items at your bedside that you can use to call for help if you are trapped?
Please use this as a reference when reviewing your bedroom.
writer：Matsuoka
