14 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | June 2018 |
Handyman Tips:
Averting disaster
after an earthquake
Can an earthquake burn down your home? Yes!
On May 8 at 4:49 am our homes here in Four Seasons shook, rattled and
almost rolled. The 4.5 earthquake was centered about 15 miles north/east of us.
It was a sharp quick one so we did not receive a lot of damage, BUT it was strong
enough that I got up out of bed and checked for a gas leak. That's correct. In
1972 we lived about 15 miles from the center of the 7.4 Sylmar quake which
toppled highway bridges and a hospital building and almost BURNED our
house down. We rushed outside and about 10 minutes later I walked back
into the house and smelled natural gas. I quickly grabbed a wrench and
shut off the gas line at the meter. Then I headed to the outside Edison
Electrical Panel and pulled the MAIN Breaker Switch to OFF. The gas pipe
to our water heater had broken. Three homes in our area were burned because of a
gas leak.
Moral of this story is that within five (no more than 10) minutes after an
earthquake sniff around for a gas leak. It could save your life and home.
