Stay Safe Daily Emergency numbers

Duck, cover and hold

Three words for the minute you cannot plan during. PHIVOLCS writes them for a classroom with desks in it, and most of the time you will not be in one.

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, and the last word is the one that gets dropped. 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 23 September 2026. Linked from the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Preparedness page as a scanned two-page primer. Every phase and stage on this page was read from that scan on 23 September 2026.

The three words, in the order PHIVOLCS gives them

From the PHIVOLCS primer for teachers, which is the document the national school drill is run from. The third word is the one most often dropped: holding on is what keeps the cover over you while the room moves.

  1. Duck Get down. The primer puts this as the first movement of the response phase, while the alarm is still going.
  2. Cover Take cover under a sturdy table. Use a book to cover your head.
  3. 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 23 September 2026. Linked from the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Preparedness page as a scanned two-page primer. Every phase and stage on this page was read from that scan on 23 September 2026.

When there is no table

The primer answers this in one line, and it is the line that almost never survives into a page about the drill:

  • 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 where there is no table.

An armchair rather than nothing. A book rather than nothing. The instruction is about getting something over your head, and the table is the example rather than the requirement.

Source: PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers (printed October 2011 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 23 September 2026. Linked from the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Preparedness page as a scanned two-page primer. Every phase and stage on this page was read from that scan on 23 September 2026.

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 four of the six the answer is not to duck, cover and hold at all.

  1. 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.
  2. Stay away from glass windows, shelves, cabinets and other heavy objects.
  3. Beware of falling objects. Be alert and keep your eyes open.
  4. Outside: move to an open area. Away from trees, power lines, posts and concrete structures. Move away from steep slopes, which landslides can take.
  5. Near the shore: move quickly to higher ground. PHIVOLCS is explicit that a tsunami might follow a strong earthquake felt near the coast. Do not wait to be told.
  6. 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 20 September 2026.

Why this page is in English and not on a news page

Search this phrase from the Philippines and the first result is the civil protection agency of Iceland. Fourth is the Central United States Earthquake Consortium, which uses the American wording, drop, cover and hold on. Four of the remaining results are news items from the day of a nationwide drill, one of them PHIVOLCS's own, reporting that its staff performed the drill rather than telling a reader how to.

A news post about drill day is true for a day. The instruction it describes is true every day, which is why it belongs on a page rather than in an announcement. Read on 25 September 2026.

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