[akg_67]

Good luck, the Sapporo Chitose airport is closed for inspection of both runways.

BTW, you are safer in hotel than outside. No need to stay in lobby, go to bed, just protect your head. I experienced much bigger one in Sapporo in 2018.

[pcl]

When I moved to SF, someone told me that the three most important things you can do for earthquake safety are:

- make sure nothing can fall on you when you're in bed (no mounted artwork above the headboard; no lamps etc on side tables that are high enough to fall on you)

- make sure you have footwear in your bedroom, so you can be mobile if there's broken glass everywhere

- store extra drinking water somewhere (I used a 6-gallon carboy that I periodically refilled)

Probably there are other good things to do, but all those made a lot of sense to me. Most of us spend more time in bed than in any other fixed location, so making sure the bed is a safe place rings true. And water is life.

[parl_match]

Keep in mind that this is a major metropolitan area in a state that has a history of earthquakes. You can expect state level response (and federal as well) within the same day. Their main priority will be water, and elements exposure.

Guidance varies. California list here https://earthquake.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/02...

You should have water, food, medical supplies, and cash.

btw you might find this interesting https://www.amusingplanet.com/2021/01/san-franciscos-hidden-...

[komali2]

Sf fire department has also a pdf with what you should have in an at home emergency kit. It's some simple things you can get in one trip to a camping store and Walgreens. https://sf-fire.org/media/794/download?inline

I also recommend SF people consider joining NERT: neighborhood emergency response team. Disaster after disaster should teach us the opposite of what you argue in terms of response: in fact it's more likely that the scale of people affected will quickly overwhelm resources, and the existence of choke points will severely limit movement of people and resources, especially if infrastructure is damaged and people are flooding out of the city. That can be mitigated by having locals trained to help facilitate emergency response efforts. It's less "pulling people out from under bookshelves" and more "help managing the bureaucracy of the fire department," forms on forms on forms! Though the training does involve pulling someone out from under a bookshelf. It's a week long and quite fun!

[rishikeshs]

I’m curious, how is it more safer inside a building than being outside?

[jasonvorhe]

Modern buildings like hotels are built to withstand earthquakes of some magnitudes. Wouldn't count on that at a local construction site or a worn down house you might pass on the street.

[buildbot]

Especially somewhere like Japan. A newer hotel is probably one of the safest places to be.

[traceroute66]

> worn down house you might pass on the street.

That "worn down house" might be good until "upper 6". Beyond that it all depends on when it was built and the associated construction standards at the time.

Source: https://isec-society.org/ISEC_PRESS/ASEA_SEC_03/pdf/St-5_v5_...

[nerbert]

Buildings are built to resist earthquakes. Outside, anything (electric poles, roof tiles...) can fall on you.

[decae]

Shards of glass falling from ten stories up would be one of the main things to try to avoid.

[traceroute66]

Japan has had earthquakes forever. Their building regulations mandate things like isolation and dampers.

It all stems from an earthquake in 1923 in Yokohama which killed 140,000. Since then Japan's has over time developed some of the strictest seismic standards.

[klempner]

Sure, in the middle of a magnitude 9 earthquake I'd rather be in the middle of a suburban golf course (as long as it is far from any coastal tsunami) than any building, but I don't spend the majority of my time outside.

Two issues: 1. If you're making this choice during an earthquake, "outside" is often not a grassy field but rather the fall zone for debris from whatever building you're exiting. 2. If the earthquake is big/strong enough that you're in any real danger of building level issues, the shaking will be strong enough that if you try to run for the outside you're very likely to just fall and injure yourself.

[lmm]

The main two ways people get injured in earthquakes (at least in Japan) are a) gas fires b) things falling on them. And being outside but near buildings is a good way for things to fall off those buildings onto you.