Don't have your "earthquake kit" together? There's no time like the present to start putting together a plan for survival after a natural disaster.

This weekend’s 8.9 earthquake in Japan and the recent earthquake in Haiti have left many Oaklanders imagining themselves in the same predicament: a major earthquake rattles the ground and the nerves, electricity goes down, cell phone service disappears, store shelves become empty of all food and bottled water. Pets may be lost. Family members may not be able to reach one another.

What would you do if, without warning, it happened to you?

Mayor Jean Quan has prepared a special newsletter for residents with information on emergency preparedness in the event of an earthquake or other disaster.

She has also distributed information on how citizens can support relief efforts in Japan, referring to a list prepared by the New York Times.

Today, she has issued a series of recommendations for Oaklanders in the event of a major earthquake:

• Put together an emergency plan and share with all your family members.
• Create an earthquake kit, with sufficient water (1 gal per day per person) for at least a week.
• Share contact information with your neighbors–better yet, sign up for training with Oakland’s CORE program (Communities Organized to Respond to Emergencies). You can now take the class online!
• Plan on participating or observing the April 30 City-wide CORE exercise.
• If your home is not seismically retrofitted, consider making this investment now. Typical retrofits are $5,000 to $20,000 depending on where your home is located, size, and building materials–just a fraction of the cost of replacing or repairing your homes after a major earthquake.

There are a number of websites to assist in preparing for The Quake.  Mayor Quan suggests several: the Association of Bay Area Governments’ (ABAG) Earthquake and Hazards program site; the American Red Cross “Get Prepared” site; and the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) “Are you ready?” site.

But, in our opinion, the absolute best site out there for finding the most complete information, in one place, and in a user-friendly format–including what to put in an earthquake kit; how much water to store for your dog’s use; how to communicate following an earthquake, tsunami, epidemic or terrorist attack–is the site created and managed by the City and County of San Francisco, www.72hours.org . The name is based on the emergency management finding that it is best to prepare in advance for the initial 72 hours following a disaster, a time when rescue workers may not have arrived, when food and water may be unavailable, when electricity and cell phone service may be temporarily out of commission. Those first three days are the most crucial period for the survival of individuals and families.

However, no website is capable of telling us everything we need to know about the subject of natural disasters. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways; there is no way to predict when and if a natural disaster will come to Oakland. Living as we do atop the Hayward Fault, we often wonder where we will be and what we will be doing when The Big One comes.

But one thing is sure: we are all in this together. Get out, meet your neighbors. Make sure you know the residents to your left and right, even the ones across the street. You never know when one or the other of you will need to save the other’s life or property.

Get ready for the next emergency event. Get ready to be a real Oaklander, stepping up to life’s challenges, working together despite your differences and handling yourself with confidence and pride.

Related story in OaklandSeen: Mayor sends seismic missive; Maps show Oakland disaster areas