Guides
Cascadia Earthquake Readiness: A Household Guide
A Cascadia earthquake can leave a household without power, water, and road access for days to weeks. Readiness means two weeks of water and food, a way to communicate without cell service, and a practiced plan for every household member — built capability by capability, not bought in one trip.
Why two weeks
Regional guidance for a Cascadia event is two weeks of supplies, because a major earthquake can disrupt roads, water, power, and deliveries for that long. Two weeks sounds like a lot; built one capability at a time — water first, then food, then the rest — it becomes a series of small steps instead of one overwhelming shop.
Communication is a capability, not an afterthought
When local networks are down, a household needs an out-of-area contact and an agreed meeting place, decided in advance. PrepCompass treats communications as one of the seven lifelines and one of the ten capabilities, so it gets built deliberately rather than assumed.
Practice beats stockpiles
Supplies without practice fail at the moment they matter: nobody remembers where the shutoff is, or what the meeting place was. Short household drills — drop, cover, and hold on; a walk-through of the shutoffs; a communications check — turn a plan on paper into something the household can actually do. PrepCompass schedules those drills and reminds you to run them.
More reading: How to build a household emergency plan · Wildfire go-bag readiness · How readiness is measured