Duck, cover and hold
Three words for the minute you cannot plan during. PHIVOLCS gives them in its preparedness guide for homes and buildings, and in its primer for school drills.
By Hamza Rivera, updated
Short answer: PHIVOLCS says to duck, cover and hold: get down, take cover under a sturdy table or protect your head with your arms, and hold on until the shaking stops. That applies inside a structurally sound building. Outside, near the shore and in a moving vehicle, PHIVOLCS gives different instructions.
The three words cover the shaking only. For what to do before and after it, read what to do in an earthquake.
Written for the Philippines. Duck, cover and hold, ayon sa PHIVOLCS.
What PHIVOLCS says, in one sentence
While the alarm is ongoing, everyone should perform duck, cover and hold. Remain in this position until the shaking stops.
That is the whole of it. Ducking and covering put something between you and what falls. Holding on is what keeps it there while the room moves.
Source: PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers (printed October 2011 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 8 November 2026. The scanned primer PHIVOLCS links from its Earthquake Preparedness page.
The three words, in the order PHIVOLCS gives them
From the PHIVOLCS primer for teachers, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School. Its drawing says to hold on to your cover until the shaking stops.
- Duck
- Get down. The primer puts this as the first movement of the response phase, while the alarm is still going.
- Cover
- Take cover under a sturdy table. Use a book to cover your head.
- Hold
- Hold on to your cover until the shaking stops, and remain in that position until it does.
Source: PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers (printed October 2011 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 8 November 2026. The scanned primer PHIVOLCS links from its Earthquake Preparedness page.
When there is no table
The primer's drawings show three ways to take cover:
- Take cover under a sturdy table and hold on to your cover until the shaking stops.
- Use a book to cover your head.
- Hide under an armchair.
The primer draws three ways to protect your head: under a sturdy table, under an armchair, or with a book over it. The PHIVOLCS preparedness guide adds one more: protect your head with your arms.
Source: PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers (printed October 2011 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 8 November 2026. The scanned primer PHIVOLCS links from its Earthquake Preparedness page.
Where the instruction is something else
Stay calm. What you do depends entirely on where you are standing. These are PHIVOLCS's own cases, from its preparedness guide, and in three of them, outside, near the shore and in a moving vehicle, the answer is something other than duck, cover and hold.
- Inside a structurally sound building: stay there. Do the duck, cover and hold. Get under a sturdy desk or table and hold on to it, or protect your head with your arms. If you can do it quickly, open the door for an exit.
- Stay away from glass windows, shelves, cabinets and other heavy objects.
- Beware of falling objects. Be alert and keep your eyes open.
- Outside: move to an open area. Away from trees, power lines, posts and concrete structures. Move away from steep slopes, which landslides can take.
- Near the shore: move quickly to higher ground. PHIVOLCS says to do this if you feel an earthquake near the shore, especially a strong one, because a tsunami might follow. Do not wait to be told.
- In a moving vehicle: stop and get out. Do not attempt to cross bridges, overpasses or flyovers, which may have been damaged.
Source: PHIVOLCS, Earthquake Preparedness Guide: what to do Before, During and After an earthquake (published June 2009 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 8 November 2026. The guide PHIVOLCS links from its Earthquake Preparedness page.
The rehearsal is the part that works
Knowing the three words is not the same as having done them once in the room you are usually in. PHIVOLCS runs the drill in six phases and duck, cover and hold is the second of them.
The drill, phase by phase The earthquake guide Magnitude and intensity