Safety guide · Based on official sources

What to Do in an Earthquake: During, After, and the Night That Follows

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Most earthquake injuries don't come from buildings collapsing — they come from falling and toppling objects and broken glass. That's why official advice is so simple. South Korea's earthquake action guide, Ready.gov and the Great ShakeOut all say the same thing: while it's shaking, protect yourself under a sturdy table; when it stops, take the stairs out and move to open ground. This guide walks through each step in the order you'd live it, with the reasons and the sources.

1. When the alert goes off

South Korea's meteorological agency (KMA) sends earthquake early-warning alerts for domestic quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater. Early warning can buy a few seconds to a few tens of seconds before strong shaking — but close to the epicenter, the shaking may arrive at the same time as the alert or even before it.

• Protect yourself before you check. The seconds you spend searching the news are the seconds you needed to get under a table.
• Go under a table away from windows, glass doors, bookcases, light fixtures and tall furniture.
• Don't use those seconds to sprint for the stairs or the elevator. Once the shaking starts, you'll fall where you are.

2. While it's shaking

The Korean government guide says: get under a table to protect yourself and hold on tightly to its leg. If there's nothing to get under, protect your head with a cushion or bag and get low. It's the same as Drop, Cover, and Hold On, recommended by Ready.gov and the international ShakeOut drills.

• Don't run. Strong shaking usually lasts no more than a minute or two. Moving on a shaking floor is how people fall and get hit by falling objects.
• Shaking is stronger and longer on high floors. In tall buildings, watch out for objects that slide or fall.
• Stay away from windows and glass. Broken glass is a major cause of earthquake injuries.
• Don't try to hold up falling furniture. Saving a bookcase or laptop is how people get pinned.
• If you're in bed, Ready.gov advises staying there and covering your head and neck with a pillow rather than getting up and walking.

3. When the shaking stops

Now is the time to move — quickly but calmly, because an aftershock can come at any moment.

• Turn off power and gas. Post-earthquake fires often start from gas and electrical sources.
• Open the door to secure an exit. If the building twists, doors can jam and trap you.
• Watch for broken glass. Put on shoes rather than moving barefoot or in slippers.
• Take the stairs, not the elevator, and get out promptly. An aftershock or power cut can stop an elevator with you inside.
• If you're in an elevator, press every floor button and get off at the first floor that opens. If you're trapped, call for help on the emergency intercom. Don't pry the doors open.

4. Outside, and on the way to an evacuation site

• Shield your head with a bag or your hands and keep your distance from buildings. Signs, glass, façade panels and walls can fall, so don't walk tight against storefronts.
• Evacuate to open spaces like school fields and parks. In Korea, local governments designate earthquake outdoor evacuation sites (mostly school fields and parks); you can look them up in advance on the national disaster safety portal or the "Safety Didimdol" app. Elsewhere, check your city's emergency website.
• Don't drive. Jammed roads block emergency vehicles, and you could be on a bridge or overpass when an aftershock hits.
• Underground malls and narrow alleys are not open ground. Crowds build up and there's a lot overhead that can fall.

5. Depending on where you are

• Driving: Turn on your hazard lights, slow down gradually and pull over to the side of the road, then listen to the radio. If you leave the car, leave the key in it and the doors unlocked so emergency crews can move it.
• On a subway or train: Hold on to a strap or pole; once it stops, follow announcements and staff. Don't force the doors or climb down onto the tracks.
• In a department store or supermarket: Move away from shelves and display cases, protect your head near a pillar, and leave as directed once the shaking stops.
• At school: Get under your desk and hold on to its legs; when it stops, follow your teacher to the field.
• At the coast: If a tsunami warning or advisory is issued, move away from the shore to high ground. The Japan Meteorological Agency advises that if you feel strong shaking — or weak shaking that lasts a long time — near the coast, go to high ground right away without waiting for a warning. Don't return until the warning is lifted.
• On slopes and in the mountains: Keep away from cliffs and slopes where landslides or rockfalls can happen.

6. After you evacuate

• Check for injuries, give first aid with the people around you, then call emergency services (119 in Korea). If someone is trapped under debris, report the exact location and situation rather than digging in with bare hands.
• Follow reliable information — the radio and official public announcements. Group-chat rumors like "a bigger one is coming tonight" spread faster than facts. Trust only official statements about what comes next.
• Aftershocks can come, so don't enter buildings that might collapse. The few minutes spent going back in for your bag are among the most dangerous. Wait for a safety inspection.
• If you smell gas, don't light anything or flip switches — move away and report it.
• Text, don't call. Voice networks jam in disasters; short texts get through better. Save your phone battery.

7. Common myths

• "Run outside as soon as it starts." No. Protect yourself while it's shaking, then take the stairs out once it stops.
• "A doorway is the safest place." Ready.gov and ShakeOut note that in modern buildings doorways are no stronger than anywhere else and a swinging door can hurt you; get under a table instead.
• "The 'triangle of life' — curl up next to a big object." This is not official guidance. Official advice in Korea and abroad is to take cover under a table.
• "Underground is safer." An earthquake evacuation site is open outdoor space with nothing overhead to fall on you.

What to do before an earthquake

• Secure bookcases, fridges and other tall furniture to the wall, and keep heavy items low.
• Pick your take-cover spot under a table at home and at work.
• Look up your nearest earthquake evacuation site ahead of time. The city of Busan, too, urges residents to know the action guide and their outdoor evacuation sites in advance.
• Agree with your family where to meet and how to reach each other (by text).

Keep at least three days of supplies

After a big earthquake, power, water, gas and phone service can be out for days and shops may close. In October 2026 the Japanese government (with the launch of its new Disaster Management Agency) and the UK government (its Be Ready campaign) both repeated the advice that every household should keep at least three days' — ideally a week's — water and food. Korea's national disaster safety portal points the same way.

• Water: about 3 L per person per day × at least 3 days.
• Food: things you can eat without cooking — canned food, ready rice, energy bars, crackers.
• Portable toilet, plastic bags, wet wipes: the first things you miss when the water is off.
• Flashlight, power bank, battery radio, spare batteries: hearing official broadcasts matters most.
• Sturdy shoes, gloves, basic medicines, masks, some cash, copies of ID.

No need to panic-buy. Add a little each time you shop and eat and replace it as you go (rolling stock).

Practice it in a simulation

Reading a list is easy. Remembering it when every phone buzzes at once and the floor starts to roll is not. Busan Earthquake: 40 Seconds of Shaking is a free browser game where you make these decisions in seconds, from a 19th-floor meeting room in Busan (the quake, company and building are fictional). See the game guide.

Sources

• Ministry of the Interior and Safety (Korea), Earthquake Action Guide for the Public (as published on the KMA earthquake information service) · high-rise building guidance
• Korea national disaster safety portal (Safekorea) · Safety Didimdol app (shelter finder, emergency supplies)
• Korea Meteorological Administration, earthquake early warning
• Busan Metropolitan City, earthquake outdoor evacuation sites · Earthquake Safety Week campaign
• Seoul Metropolitan Government Earthquake Safety Portal (elevators, subway, driving, coast)
• National Fire Agency (Korea), 119 reporting and first aid
• Japan Meteorological Agency, tsunami evacuation guidance · Cabinet Office of Japan, disaster management
• Ready.gov “Earthquakes” · Great ShakeOut “Drop, Cover, and Hold On”

This page is general educational information, not official emergency guidance. In a real emergency, follow instructions from your national and local authorities.

FAQ

▶ PLAY: BUSAN EARTHQUAKE, 40 SECONDS OF SHAKING