Protecting Our House From An Earthquake

For the second time in the past fortnight Charlotte has ridden around the house on her bike, with kite string unraveling behind her, and fully ‘wrapped’ the house in a ‘trip-wire’. She tells me it’s to, ‘Protect our house in case of an earthquake’.

Today she insisted we practice an earthquake drill, which consisted of standing outside, within the perimeter of the trip-wire. I had to stand close to her and all the bikes had to be next to each other in a safe spot under the outdoor bench. I insisted that I had to get back into the kitchen to cook dinner (Sophie was also due to wake from her nap), but she said it was very dangerous and if I did go back into the house I would have to be very quick. She also suggested I wake Sophie up as she might be in danger!

The last time she did this coincided with me running the battery flat on our car (I’d left the lights on). I had to call the AA and when a representative arrived (in the dark) I’d completely forgotten about the trip-wire. He almost tripped over it and went flying through our front door!

Links:

List of the last thirty New Zealand earthquakes
Greater Wellington Regional Council – Hazards

On a serious note –