Stay Safe Daily Emergency numbers

Earthquakes: what to do before, during and after

Duck, cover and hold. Stay inside if the building is sound, get to open ground if you are outside, and get to high ground if you are near the shore.

By Hamza Rivera, updated

Short answer: PHIVOLCS guidance is to duck, cover and hold inside a structurally sound building and to move to open ground if you are outside. Near the shore, go to higher ground because a tsunami might follow, and in a moving vehicle stop and get out. After the shaking, be prepared for aftershocks.

Written for the Philippines. In an emergency here, the number is 911.

An earthquake gives no warning at all, so everything that helps was done weeks earlier: a cabinet bolted to a wall, an emergency supply kit, a drill the family has actually walked through. PHIVOLCS publishes the national guidance, and the three sections below follow it.

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The drill, in the order PHIVOLCS runs it

PHIVOLCS gives six phases. The pages that rank for this list five, leave out the evaluation, and cite a foreign vendor blog for the rest. The full wording of each phase, and the three stages of preparation that come before the alarm, are on the drill guide.

1 Alarm 2 Response 3 Evacuation 4 Assembly 5 Head count 6 Evaluation
1 Alarm
During the drill, the 1 minute alarm indicates earthquake or shaking.
2 Response
Everyone performs duck, cover and hold, and stays there until the shaking stops.
3 Evacuation
Everyone leaves along the planned route once the shaking has stopped.
4 Assembly
Everyone gathers at the assembly area, clear of the building.
5 Head count
Teachers check and make sure all students are accounted for.
6 Evaluation
The drill is reviewed, which is the phase most published versions leave out.

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.

Earthquakes: the three parts of this guide

Each part below carries its own steps and names the agency they came from. The phase you need is usually the one you are already in.

Before: 9 steps During: 6 steps After: 6 steps
Before: 9 steps
PHIVOLCS puts it plainly: the key to effective disaster prevention is planning.
During: 6 steps
Stay calm. What you do depends entirely on where you are standing.
After: 6 steps
Be prepared for aftershocks. Once the shaking stops, take the fastest and safest way out of the building.

Before

PHIVOLCS puts it plainly: the key to effective disaster prevention is planning.

  1. Know the earthquake hazards in your area.
  2. Follow structural design and engineering practice when building a house.
  3. Have the soundness of your building checked, and strengthen or retrofit it if it needs it. PHIVOLCS runs a free self-check called How Safe Is My House? for one or two storey concrete hollow block houses, at howsafeismyhouse.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph.
  4. Strap or bolt heavy furniture and cabinets to the walls.
  5. Check the stability of hanging objects like ceiling fans and chandeliers.
  6. Store breakable items, harmful chemicals and flammable materials on the lowest secured shelves.
  7. Learn your exit routes, and where the fire extinguishers, first aid kits and alarms are.
  8. Prepare an emergency supply kit. PHIVOLCS lists a first aid kit, canned food and a can opener, water, clothing, a blanket, a battery radio, torches and spare batteries.
  9. Run earthquake drills, and take part in them.

Source: PHIVOLCS, Earthquake Preparedness Guide: what to do Before, During and After an earthquake (published June 2009 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 20 September 2026.

Source: PHIVOLCS, How Safe Is My House? Self-check for earthquake safety of concrete hollow block houses. Read 8 October 2026.

During

Stay calm. What you do depends entirely on where you are standing.

  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 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.
  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.

After

Be prepared for aftershocks. Once the shaking stops, take the fastest and safest way out of the building.

  1. Do not use lifts, enter damaged buildings, or tie up the phone lines. PHIVOLCS lists all three, and adds a fourth: do not panic.
  2. Check yourself and others for injuries.
  3. Check the water and electrical lines for damage.
  4. Check for chemical, toxic and flammable spills, and control fires before they spread.
  5. If you have to leave home, leave a message saying where you are going. And take the emergency supply kit with you.
  6. Keep up with instructions on a battery-operated radio.

Source: PHIVOLCS, Earthquake Preparedness Guide: what to do Before, During and After an earthquake (published June 2009 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 20 September 2026.

Paghahanda sa lindol

Ito ang gabay ng UNICEF Philippines sa Filipino, sa sarili nitong pananalita. Ang natitirang bahagi ng pahinang ito ay nasa Ingles at galing sa PHIVOLCS.

Bago

  • Suriin: Malapit ba kayo sa fault line? O maaari bang mag-landslide o mahagip ng tsunami ang inyong lugar?
  • Tiyakin na matibay ang pagkakagawa ng mga pader at poste ng bahay.
  • Ikabit sa pader ang mga mabibigat na furniture at gamit na maaaring bumagsak kapag lumilindol.
  • Alamin ang mga ligtas at hindi ligtas na lugar sa inyong bahay.
  • Ituro sa mga bata kung paano mag-Duck, Cover and Hold sa oras ng lindol.

Habang

  • Stay calm.
  • Magtago sa ilalim ng matibay na mesa at humawak sa paanan nito. (PHIVOLCS)
  • Ipakita sa mga bata ang dapat gawin para hindi sila matakot.
  • Huwag lumabas ng bahay habang lumilindol. Mag-Duck, Cover and Hold sa pinakaligtas na spot ng bahay hanggang tumigil ang pagyanig.
  • Lumayo sa mga salamin, bintana at mga bahay na maaaring bumagsak.
  • Kung nasa labas, pumunta sa isang ligtas na lugar. Lumayo sa mga puno, poste ng kuryente, pader at iba pang istruktura na maaaring bumagsak o matumba. (PHIVOLCS)

Pagkatapos

  • Pagkatapos ng lindol, stay calm at i-plano nang maigi ang ligtas na pag-evacuate ng pamilya.
  • Kapag ligtas nang lumabas, kunin ang emergency go-bag at mag-evacuate sa pinakamalapit na open area o evacuation area. Kung nasa loob ng building, iwasan ang paggamit ng elevator.
  • Umiwas sa mga tulay at matataas na gusali at structures na maaaring gumuho.
  • Maging alerto sa aftershocks, posibleng landslide at sunog.
  • Kung nasa tabing-dagat at nakaramdam ng malakas na lindol, mabilis na lumikas sa mas mataas na lugar. Maaaring magkaroon ng tsunami. (PHIVOLCS)
  • Kumustahin ang mga bata at pakinggan ang kanilang iniisip at nararamdaman pagkatapos ng lindol.

Source: UNICEF Philippines, Emergency preparedness tips: earthquakes. Read 23 September 2026. UNICEF publishes this page in Filipino. The lines below are its wording, grouped as it groups them, except three lines marked (PHIVOLCS), which are PHIVOLCS’s own Filipino from its Gabay sa Paghahanda para sa Lindol (2015). They replace UNICEF lines that differed from PHIVOLCS: to stay where you are if outside, to head for one spot in the house, and to wait for an official tsunami advisory by the sea. PHIVOLCS’s tsunami page goes further: do not stay in low-lying coastal areas after any felt earthquake. UNICEF writes Drop, Cover and Hold; this sheet uses the PHIVOLCS term, Duck, Cover and Hold.

Ang paghahanda bago dumating ang bagyo, ang lindol at ang pagputok ng bulkan, sa isang papel na puwedeng i-print: paghahanda sa kalamidad.

On the Tagalog results for paghahanda sa lindol, read on 23 September 2026, page one is UNICEF, a machine translation of a Japanese guide, Twinkl (a UK worksheet company), a Scribd upload, a Facebook video, and the Office of Emergency Management of Santa Clara County, California, which serves Filipino-language earthquake safety to its diaspora. PHIVOLCS is absent from that page entirely. Where UNICEF says to stay where you are if you are outside, PHIVOLCS says to move to an open area away from trees, power lines, posts and concrete structures. Follow PHIVOLCS.

The Philippines measures shaking on its own scale

Reports here use the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale, written PEIS, which runs from Intensity I to Intensity X and describes what people felt and what broke. That is a different thing from magnitude, which is one number for the whole earthquake.

The practical version: magnitude describes the earthquake, intensity describes your street. PHIVOLCS says intensity is generally higher near the epicentre, so towns at different distances report different intensities from the same earthquake.

Source: PHIVOLCS, PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale. Read 20 September 2026.

Pack the bag once

Every section above assumes a bag is already packed. There is one list on this site and it covers all four hazards, with UNICEF Philippines named as its source.

Open the go bag checklist Magnitude and intensity, explained Duck, cover and hold

Related guides

Back to all four hazard guides