{"id":309,"date":"2011-08-24T10:36:17","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T14:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/?p=309"},"modified":"2011-08-24T10:36:17","modified_gmt":"2011-08-24T14:36:17","slug":"ahhh-earthquake-small-business-owners-be-prepared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/ahhh-earthquake-small-business-owners-be-prepared\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahhh! Earthquake! Small Business Owners, Be Prepared!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhoa\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just the wind, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not from the quarry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that the AC coming on?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEARTHQUAKE!!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we need to like\u2026 get under a table or in a doorway?\u201d<\/p>\n

All of that took place during a meeting at 123Print<\/a> on August 23, 2011, during the tremors of a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. I should also mention that some employees made a mad dash for the windows to see what was going on, which in retrospect might not have been the smartest thing to do. You\u2019ll have to excuse us. We\u2019re from the east coast and earthquakes are not our forte.<\/p>\n

123Print is located in Frederick, MD within a few blocks of a quarry. Every day or every other day there is some type of blast that shakes the building – but we\u2019ve learned to ignore it. Every now and again there will be blast that causes people to laugh and go \u201cWow. That was a big one,\u201d but then go right back to what they were doing. So, on Tuesday when the tremor in our area started no one paid attention for the first four or five seconds, because we assumed it was from the quarry. Then we noticed the projector on the ceiling was shaking, and the rumbling just didn\u2019t stop. Enter the panic and people dashing out of the conference room to try to figure out what was going on.<\/p>\n

This part of the country just doesn\u2019t get earthquakes. We do really well with two feet of snow dumped on top of sheets of ice. You may think we panic when we\u2019re about to get a bunch of snow dumped on us, but we\u2019re really just concerned about how much toilet paper and alcohol we have in the event we can\u2019t leave our house for a few days. I know Californians were laughing at the entire east coast as panic ensued from a \u201cmere\u201d 5.9 quake, and I guess I can see why. I mean, people were saying that the end was near. I think someone in the 123Print office actually said, \u201cThis is one of the predictions for the beginning of the end. You know, 2012.\u201d But I have to ask those living on the west coast, what if tomorrow you were suddenly covered in 2 feet of snow? Wouldn\u2019t you freak out just a little bit? Ask \u201cWhat the hell is going on?\u201d But, I digress.<\/p>\n

Later on in the day, HR sent out instructions on what to do during an earthquake. I\u2019ve filed it away in my \u201cMay Need Someday,\u201d folder. I had no idea that we even had procedures for the event of an earthquake. After all, we don\u2019t get earthquakes here! I already knew what to do in the event of a fire, the power goes out, or a blizzard is upon us\u2026 but not an earthquake. This raises an interesting thought for small business owners. Make sure you have some sort of emergency plan that encompasses both people and company assets.<\/p>\n