(This blog is a modified version of an essay I posted March 18, 2014)
California is no
stranger to earthquakes. Consequently, public-service announcements regularly remind
us to prepare for the Big One. (It’s coming!) When a 6.4 earthquake hit Santiago,
Chile, yesterday, local news stations reminded Southern California residents to store
enough food and water to last five days in case we had a similar quake in the
near future. No need to wait: Napa Valley, California was rattled by a 6.0
quake at 3.20 this morning.
Anyone who
experienced the 1989 San Francisco or the 1994 Northridge quake knows how
deadly and destructive they can be. This morning’s temblor is reportedly the
most powerful earthquake to strike Northern California since San Francisco’s “World
Series Quake” in 1989. Regardless of its magnitude, any earthquake is
terrifying and disorienting. It also triggers our two most basic emotional
reactions, as described in John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind: fear of loud
noises and fear of falling.
When the ground
starts to move, buildings creak and groan as the structures sway or collapse on
their foundations. Furniture and the objects resting on them, books standing on
shelves or pictures hanging on the walls, may crash to the floor. The ground
moves beneath our feet and can trigger vertigo and the innate fear of falling. Even
if you have never experienced an earthquake before, you probably already know enough
about this phenomenon to be concerned for your safety when the shaking starts. Everyone
who has felt an earthquake before
probably felt genuinely, understandably scared. However, this fear was not just
about the disorienting physical sensations we experienced, but the violence of our
anticipatory anxiety that was also triggered when the shaking started.
According to the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder anticipatory anxiety is an example of the
fight/flight response, whereby a person instinctively prepares himself or herself
to face a potential threat based on previous experience that the threat exists.
“You’ve had the panic [and] you start worrying it will recur. You’re more
affected by what you think will
happen,” he observed. When the shaking started it must have triggered many
people’s memories of the 1989 quake and their anticipatory anxiety about what
could happen, this time. This is how it
started/what it felt like last time. There is nowhere to go! There was so much
damage to my house! Parts of the freeway collapsed. The neighbor had a
heart-attack. Two homes in the neighborhood were condemned… Many people
were still sleeping (and had not yet eaten breakfast) this morning when the shaking
started, so a lower blood-sugar-level may have also exacerbated the physiological
sensations that can occur during a fear or phobic response. Throughout the earthquake,
heart-rates accelerated and breathing became shallow. Some people may have started
to sweat profusely, felt dizzy or confused, and even experienced tunnel vision
as they were reminded that they have no control over the environment (at that
moment).
Although none of
us have control over when, where and how large the movement of those tectonic
plates beneath us will be, we absolutely can and do have control over our response
during an earthquake. Take these hours and days when the memory of the fear and
“flight” response is still fresh in your mind, and write a new mental script
that focuses on and will activate the “fight” response. Make and rehearse an
emergency plan with your family so everyone knows where to go, what to do and
who to contact if there you need to reunite somewhere after the quake. Know
where your gas meter is located on your property and be able to turn the gas
off to prevent a leak. Participate in the earthquake “drills” at your school/college
and in your neighborhood so you know what to do during and where to go after
the earthquake. Learn CPR so you can provide first aid to the injured. Memorize
the access routes into and out of your community if you need to evacuate the
area. Pack the recommended quantity of food and water for you, your family and
your pets—and make sure these supplies are accessible
if you need to grab them in a hurry. Create a list of neighbors and out-of-state
friends or relatives whom you can contact to send a message to loved ones about
your health and whereabouts in case the phone lines are down after the
earthquake. Learn breathing and relaxation techniques—even self-hypnosis—that
you can use to be calm and focused during and after the earthquake, which will
enable you to help yourself and others survive the days and weeks to come.
For more
information about this morning’s earthquake in the Napa Valley go to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72282711#summary.
You can find ore information about earthquake preparedness at www.redcross.org.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
