I was just curious --a lot of the earthquake safety guidelines say to duck and cover under sturdy tables, etc, but that if you're in bed, you should stay in bed unless there are large objects nearby that might fall on you. Why is it safer to stay IN bed as opposed to getting underneath the bed?
Under the bed depends on how strong your bed is (will it likely sustain weights falling on top of it or will it collapse ?) If the later is true, then hiding underneath your bed is indeed worse. In your bed is not that good neither, EVEN in the unlikely case when there are no obvious objects near you... Best place to be during an earthquake is a door frame
During an earthquake, you should drop, cover and hold on. . . if you are awake and in a normal environment. If you're in bed, the assumption is that the earthquake is at night, and you are in your bedroom sleeping. The worry is that if you try to drop, cover and hold on in the dark, you may cause yourself more injury in the few seconds that the quake is occuring as you try and scramble out of bed. Quakes usually don't last that long. . . it just seems like forever. Once the shaking stops, evacuate. Most people have bookshelves, mirrors, armoires, dressers and other furniture in their bedrooms. Let's have a signal of hands as to how many people actually have these all strapped in and screwed into studs properly accounting for their height and weight? If you leave the bed, these things may fall on you on your way to safety, again causing more injury, but they are also typically spaced far enough away that they wouldn't fall directly on you if you just stayed in bed. Finally, if these things do fall around the bed, while you're underneath it, good luck trying to evacuate quickly (aftershocks are equally dangerous), as they may hinder your ability to get out from under the bed. The only thing you have to worry about is the roof collapsing, which in an increasing majority of homes, this should not be a problem. All these recommendations are under the assumption that you are living in America, where building codes, ordinances, and regulations should have been enforced (hopefully). These recommendations change in other parts of the world where construction quality is unknown.
I find the closest triangle. Next to bed. Next to something strong. If outside, get down low next to a car. The idea is to let the object take the abuse.
I've never heard that before. I can't imagine why the top of the bed would be safe -- things can fall on you when you're exposed like that. On the other hand, if there is a collapse, being under the bed would make it harder for rescuers to get to you. Then again, being on top of the bed in that scenario would just kill you under the rubble.
