Portland Earthquake Kits offers Cascadia Subduction Zone homeowners inexpensive shelter-in-place earthquake preparedness kits.
Homeowners don’t need a survival kit. They need a basic comfort kit for living for months without city services.
Portland Earthquake Kits is committed to helping Portland meet its goal of ensuring that every resident is prepared.
All the information you need about preparing for earthquakes in our area can be found under Resources in our top menu, including interactive earthquake maps, city instructions, and links to city, state, regional, and national disaster management resources.
For example, how long will services be down in Portland after an earthquake, and how many people will be injured?
DOGAMI report, March 2018
Don’t live in Portland? Other Oregon residents can go to the OPB Aftershock site and enter their zip code in, or download city-by-city statistics from the DOGAMI Report.
 | This kit is designed for homes and/or businesses and contains what we feel are the minimum, essential items that will need to establish a basic level of safety and hygiene. Comes with an info packet containing storage instructions, earthquake preparation checklist, 10-step Action Plan to follow during an earthquake, and other useful information. Full list of contents included below.
For more information about earthquakes in the region and the various emergency management agencies active in the area, please consult our Resources menu at the top of this page.
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Checklists and informationYour kit comes with an information packet consisting of the following:
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Bucket Toilet (2)Two 5 gallon buckets with toilet seats. Bucket toilets come labeled with Portland Emergency Toilet Project instruction stickers on them. After a major earthquake sewer service will be unavailable. The City of Portland is advising a two-bucket system where pee and poo are separated.
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Heavy-Duty Toilet Bags (60)Environmentally friendly .85 mil, 13 gallon Super Hexane waste bags for bucket toilet made by Evolution Bags out of 100% recycled materials. (Not biodegradable. Biodegradable bags have a very short shelf life.) Our 60-day supply of extra-strength toilet bags should last 2 months. These oversized bags fit into 5 gallon bucket toilet with enough room to be easily tied and/or doubled back over after tying for “double-bagging” protection.
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Trauma/First Aid KitCombination first aid and trauma kit for injuries that could include heavy bleeding. Comes with easy-to-read Instruction Sheet. First aid kits are for minor injuries; trauma kits are designed for more serious bleeding wounds and typically include self-adhesive compression bandages, Emergency/Israeli compression bandages, and some kind of tourniquet. Our kits include these elements along with typical first aid supplies, and are designed for use in a mass casualty scenario such as a major earthquake or active shooter incident involving a potential combination of severe wounds and minor injuries. The kits come with an instruction cheat sheet indicating what to do after an incident and which bandages to use. This kit does not include recreational/wilderness items such as ponchos, lighters, snake bite kit, compass, etc. It also does not include any items with expiration dates, such as ointments or pain medications. The bag is designed with extra space for you to include those items if you wish – but just remember to restock. For people who are untrained on serious bleeding wounds, the Stop the Bleed booklet “What everyone should know to stop Bleeding After an Injury” comes with illustrated instructions and can be printed out from the website below. |
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Gas Shutoff ToolCustom metal tool designed to turn off residential natural gas. 10″ x 2″, locally manufactured, with instructions sticker. After an earthquake, immediately check the gas lines outside your house. Portland authorities say to turn it off only if you smell gas. If you don’t have a crescent/monkey wrench bigger than 10″, you need a tool like this one. NW Natural Video: How to turn off residential gas |
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Emergency Radio & USB ChargerOur top choice for value and versatility. FM, AM, and Weather channels and a rechargeable 2000 mAh lithium-ion battery that can be charged via an outlet, small solar panel, or hand crank. 3 AAA Energizer Max long-lasting batteries included (10 year life span). At 3″ x 6″ x 2″, it can fit in a coat pocket. This radio can be used to charge your cell phones or any other USB-rechargeable device. With no electricity, radios will also be an important source of news and entertainment.
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Heavy-Duty Plastic Sheeting (2)Two rolls of 10 x 25′ heavy duty (3mil) transparent plastic sheeting for sealing broken windows or other home repairs. The most likely damage to your house will be broken windows. This heavy-duty sheeting will protect your home from the elements, especially in the winter (enough to cover 500 square feet of windows). |
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Max-Strength Industrial Duct Tape (2)Two rolls of Duck Max Strength Industrial Duct Tape, 2″ by 35 yards each. Duck’s Max Strength tape is highly rated and a top choice for all-weather use. Seal your windows on all sides, and tape inside corners. |
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4′ Drinking Water Hose for Water Heater4ft Lead and BPA-free reinforced drinking water hose for extracting water from water heater, and filling water storage containers. Protect yourself from exposure to unnecessary chemicals. A typical water heater has 40 gallons of drinkable water in it – enough for 10 days for a family of 4. This hose ensures access to that water even if your heater is difficult to access or falls over. It can also be used to drain water from a 55 gallon drum. |
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Battery-Powered LED Dimmer Light (2)3’x4.5″ long-lasting LED light with dimmer switch. 3 AAA Energizer Max long-lasting batteries included (10 year life span). These backup lights can be adjusted for brightness and last far longer than flashlights, lanterns, or headlamps, especially if not used at full strength. They can be placed on the wall, on their side, or aimed at the ceiling for reflected ambient light, and their lifetimes can be expanded by using the batteries from household devices such as remote controls, mouse, etc.
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Battery-Powered String Lights16″ LED string lights (warm white) with 8 settings. 4 AA Energizer Max long-lasting batteries included with a 10 year life span. (The device takes 3; the extra one can be rotated in to extend useful life.) For eating meals, socializing, night lights, or bathroom lighting, LED string lights produce a warm white light similar to candlelight, without the danger of candles in a water-limited environment.
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Heavy-Duty Contractor Bags (3)Three extra-tough, full size contractor trash bags for debris. You should anticipate broken possessions, glass, and debris that must be bagged and removed from homes for eventual collection by the city. |
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Key Ring Whistles (5)Five small, metal key-ring whistles. Don’t underestimate the possibility of being trapped. These whistles take little space on a key chain, and can also be put in a child’s pillowcase or left in basements or utility rooms with single points of exit. |
