Roger Faris is one of the top experts in Seattle on preparation of homes for earthquake . He was a driving force in the implementation of the standard earthquake retrofit plan for the city of Seattle and taught the city's "How to Retrofit Your Own Home" class for several years. His dry wit keeps the subject interesting. If you missed this program, call and see if they will air it again.

Most people who are prepared for earthquake are able to release the worrying and stressing once they have done what they know to do to be ready . We have no control over nature's forces. We can control what we do to prepare. Preparation is positive. For the unprepared, dealing with the aftermath of a tragic event is painful. There is no balance here. Preparation is by far the best path.

There is a great video about this, entitled "Cascadia - the Hidden Fire." It aired on PBS. It interviews a number of northwest seismologists, describes the great Alaskan earthquake of 1964, and underlines the risk Seattle faces. It is available at: http://www.equakevideo.com/

The Yellowstone Caldra. I first read about it in a wonderful, lighthearted, book by the title of, "A Short History of Nearly Everything," by Bill Bryson. I could not sleep for a week after reading his description! However, National Geographic did a feature on it in 2007. The caldra is there, but their conclusion was much more pedestrian! Check it out at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071108-yellowstone.html

It is not necessary to have water and a whistle in every room, but it is a good idea to have a stash of emergency supplies which contain water and a whistle.

In Seattle and most of the United States, buildings are mostly constructed of wood. Our homes are elaborate wooden boxes, for the most part. Our grander apartment and condo buildings are elaborate steel boxes. As a result, even if the house or apartment building fails, it will retain its box-like shape. That means we will probably not be crushed by the building itself. If we drop, cover, and hold while everything is shaking, we will likely be able to get up and go get our water and whistle after the earthquake shaking stops.

What will crush us is the big screen TV, if it is not restrained. Or our tall bookcases, if they are not anchored to the wall. Or that big mirror, or those large framed pictures above the sofa, or perhaps that prize Chihuly glass sculpture proudly displayed on the mantle of the fireplace....maybe we should place it on the hearth. You get the idea. The rule of thumb is, if our possessions can rattle around and hurt us, or if they are valuable and may be hurt in the severe shaking of an earthquake, we should take the effort to secure them.

You can look at some illustrations of the basics of securing things in your home at http://www.emd.wa.gov/preparedness/prep_home.shtml. Or check out the home hazard hunt at https://eqhomesafety.websitesource.net/earthquakehazardhunt.html.

Oh, and about that whistle. Be sure to store your emergency supply pack near the exit. It needs to be handy to pick up if you are getting out in a hurry.

We love our old houses! The good news is that they have weathered all the earthquakes in the Puget Sound area to date. The bad news is that each event weakens a house and we have not had "the big one" yet.

It sounds like your home wobbled back and forth during the earthquake and that caused the cracking you describe. The door frame certainly is a symptom of that. The danger in a longer duration earthquake of two to three minutes (think Chile-type subduction zone earthquake) is that the house will wobble until it breaks. The danger in shorter, more violent shaking (think Haiti-type earthquake), is that the abrupt jerking back and forth of the earth will dislodge the house from it's foundation. Either scenario leads to homelessness.

Earthquake retrofit is a process designed to connect older homes (pre-1980's) to their foundations and to strengthen the under-structure of a house to resist the back and forth movement caused by earthquakes. This is a job you can do yourself! It is neither quick nor easy, in most cases, but it is within the ability of most homeowners who are handy with tools. Consider taking home retrofit training.

There is a wonderful class for people wanting to assess their homes for earthquake risk. It is a two hour "Earthquake Retrofit for Homeowners" class offered each month in Seattle for those wanting to know how to secure their homes before a big earthquake happens in our region again. http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/prepare/personal/home.htm#retrofit will take you to a page from the Seattle Office of Emergency Management that has good information on preparing a home for earthquake. At the bottom of the page is a link to find out when and where the next class will be held. The next class that I see listed is for June 2 at the Phinney Neighborhood Center from 7-9 pm. Be sure to phone in to register ahead of time to reserve a space.

As for your specific foundation, without knowing more about your house it is hard to give specific advice. There are usually a couple of trained contractors at the class who are willing to talk with you and share their opinion.

Before you talk insurance, you have to first ask yourself how dangerous your house is and how much risk you want to assume. If the house was built before 1985, it may need structural strengthening to withstand earthquake shaking successfully. If the house is older and has been earthquake retrofit, it may be able to withstand the seismic forces that are predicted to rattle our region. However, even the best house may fail if the earthquake opens a crack in the earth right under the building.

I live in a home built in 1975 that has been earthquake retrofit. We carry insurance because we are situated within a mile of the Seattle fault, which may unleash an enormous amount of energy when it slips. (Ask Paul, the seismologist.)

Other people I know live in older homes that are earthquake retrofit and figure their damage will not exceed the deductible and thus do not carry insurance. Earthquake insurance deductibles generally are between ten to twenty percent of the value of the home. I have even met a few with older homes who display a more carefree attitude and say "Let it fail! I will camp in the back yard until I can move out of the area after the event!"

In short, talk to your insurance agent. They will help you assess your risk and the costs and benefits associated with insurance protection. And finally, discuss this issue with anyone sharing the financial risk of your home with you.