Get under the table, then bolt the bookcase to the wall

Quick answer: When the shaking starts, drop to your hands and knees, cover your head and neck under a sturdy table, and hold on until it stops. Then spend one weekend anchoring anything tall and heavy to a wall stud, because falling furniture is what the drill is meant to protect you from.

Do this tonight: lie in your bed and look up

Seriously. Get on your back and look at what's above and beside you. A framed mirror. A heavy shelf. A tall dresser against the wall your head is nearest. A ceiling fan.

Most people have never looked at their bedroom from that angle. In a quake, that's the view you'd have, in the dark, with the floor moving.

Earthquakes don't usually hurt people by themselves. The shaking knocks things loose, and the things do the damage: toppled furniture, flying glass, a television that was never strapped down. Fixing that is cheap compared to the alternative, and it's the part of readiness that works while you're asleep.

Drop, Cover, Hold On, step by step

This is the guidance from FEMA, the Red Cross and the USGS, and it's the same drill practiced every October at 10:15 a.m. in the Great ShakeOut. It's four moves.

• Drop to your hands and knees. You can still crawl, and the quake can't knock you flat.
• Cover your head and neck with one arm. Get under a sturdy desk or table if one's within a few feet. If not, crawl next to an interior wall, away from windows and anything that can fall.
• Hold on to your shelter with one hand. If it slides, slide with it.
• Stay put until the shaking stops. It'll feel far longer than it is. Most shaking is over in under a minute, though a big one can run longer.

Practice it once with the family. Ten minutes, living room, a kitchen timer. Kids learn it faster than adults, and a six-year-old who's done it once will remind you.

Where people go wrong

Running outside. The urge is strong. Resist it. The danger zone is the few steps between where you are and the door: falling objects, broken glass, a floor that won't hold still. Official guidance is to stay where you are and take cover.

Standing in a doorway. This one is a holdover from old adobe houses, where the doorframe really was the strongest part of the structure. In a modern home it's no stronger than the rest of the walls, and you've got a door swinging at you. Get under a table instead.

Dashing for the stairs or an elevator. Don't. Drop where you are.

Asleep in bed. Stay there. Pull the pillow over your head and hold on. Moving through a dark room full of broken glass is how people get cut. The exception is a heavy light fixture or object right over the bed. In that case, get to the nearest safe spot.

In a car. Pull over slowly, clear of buildings, trees, overpasses and power lines. Set the parking brake and stay inside until it stops.

Outdoors. Move away from buildings if you can reach open ground in a few steps. Then drop and cover your head.

On the coast. If the shaking is long or strong, don't wait for a siren. Head for high ground or inland as soon as it's over. Tsunami guidance is the same everywhere: the earthquake is your warning.

The Saturday job: secure the heavy stuff

You don't need a contractor. You need a stud finder, a drill, a handful of furniture straps or L-brackets, and a free afternoon. Start with the rooms where people sleep and sit, kids' rooms first.

Bookcases and tall dressers. Anchor into wall studs, not just drywall. Drywall anchors pull out under load. Strap at the top. Put the heaviest books and boxes on the bottom shelves.

Televisions. Flat screens are top-heavy and tip forward. Use the anti-tip strap rated for your TV and secure it to the stand and the wall behind.

Mirrors and pictures. Nothing heavy over beds, couches or cribs. Move it, or use closed-eye hooks that a wire can't hop off.

Water heater. A fifty-gallon tank full of water is heavy enough to hurt someone, and a tipped one can rip its gas line loose. Strap it to wall studs, usually one strap near the top third and one near the bottom third. Ask a licensed plumber if you're not sure, particularly for the gas connection. A flexible gas connector is a plumber's job, not yours.

Cabinets. A simple latch keeps the glassware and the cleaning products inside. A few dollars each, and it's the best money you'll spend in the kitchen.

Small breakables. Museum putty or quake wax holds them in place on a shelf. Not glamorous. It works.

The second time you do this you'll do it in half the time. The first time, somebody will lean on a strapped bookcase to test it, and it won't move. That's a good feeling.

Know where the gas shutoff is

Find the main gas valve and the wrench that fits it. Keep the wrench next to it. Official guidance is to shut off gas only if you smell it, hear hissing, or see damage. Don't shut it off as a reflex. The utility has to come back and restore it, and after a big quake they'll be busy.

If you do smell gas, get everyone out, then close the valve if you can do it safely on the way. Don't use a flame, a light switch or a lighter inside.

After the shaking stops

Expect aftershocks. When one comes, drop, cover and hold on again.

Put on sturdy shoes before you walk across a floor with broken glass. Keep a pair and a flashlight in a drawer by the bed, or hanging from the bedpost. Check on your family, then your neighbors. Text rather than call so the lines stay open for emergency traffic.

That's also when the rest of your readiness matters. A seventy-two hour kit covers water, food and light. A battery or hand-crank radio will still give you information if cell towers are jammed or down. And if the ATMs aren't working, cash you can actually reach buys water, gas and a motel room.

Two things people forget

Insurance. A standard homeowners policy generally doesn't cover earthquake damage. It's a separate endorsement or policy. Call your agent and ask. This is a conversation about your own house and your own risk, so talk to a licensed professional, not the internet.

Where you live matters, but not how you think. California gets the headlines, but the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, the central Mississippi Valley and parts of the Southeast all have real quake risk. In August 2011, a magnitude 5.8 quake in Virginia was felt up and down the East Coast and shook buildings in Washington, D.C. If you've never thought about it, check your state geological survey's hazard map. It takes two minutes.

Leave it better than you found it

If you rent, ask your landlord before you drill. Most will say yes, since a strapped bookcase protects their property too. If they say no, use freestanding restraints and museum putty. If you do drill, patch and paint the holes when you move out.

And do the same for someone else. Your parents probably have a tall china cabinet and a television the size of a door. Their outage plan needs a look anyway. Bring the drill.