Earthquake Safety Worksheet - Learn What to Do During an Earthquake with Illustrations for Kids

Let’s go through each question one by one and pick the correct action for earthquake safety.

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Question 1: If you are in your house you must...

We have two options:
- “keep playing” → This is not safe. During an earthquake, you should stop what you’re doing and protect yourself.
- “walk out quickly” → This can be dangerous too! Running outside during shaking might cause you to fall or get hit by falling objects like glass or bricks.

Actually, the best thing to do if you’re inside is to drop, cover, and hold on — but that option isn’t listed here. Wait — looking again at Question 4, it says: *“If you are indoors and you cannot come out quickly then you must...”* and gives “drop, cover, hold” as an option. So for Question 1, maybe they expect you to choose the safer of the two given? But neither is ideal.

Wait — let’s look carefully. The instruction says: *“Colour the boxes with correct actions.”* So we need to pick the right one from each pair.

In real earthquake safety:
- You should NOT keep playing — ignore distractions.
- You should NOT walk out quickly while things are shaking — wait until shaking stops, then leave calmly.

But since this is a worksheet for kids, and only these two choices are given, perhaps “walk out quickly” is meant to be chosen IF you can do so safely? Actually no — standard advice is: if you’re inside, stay inside unless you’re already near the door and can get out immediately without running through danger.

Hmm… Let’s check Question 3 and 4 first — maybe that helps us understand the pattern.

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Question 3: On your way out of your house you must use the .....

Options:
- “lift” → Elevators can break during earthquakes and trap people. NEVER use elevators during emergencies.
- “staircase” → Yes! Stairs are safe. Always use stairs to exit buildings during earthquakes or fires.

✔ So correct answer: staircase

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Question 4: If you are indoors and you cannot come out quickly then you must....

Options:
- “drop, cover, hold” → YES! This is the official earthquake safety rule: Drop to your hands and knees, take cover under a sturdy table or desk, and hold on until shaking stops.
- “keep sitting” → No — just sitting doesn’t protect you from falling objects.

✔ Correct answer: drop, cover, hold

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Now back to Question 1. Since Question 4 covers what to do if you can’t get out, Question 1 might be implying: what should you do if you ARE able to leave? But even then, “walk out quickly” is risky during active shaking.

Wait — maybe there’s a mistake in how I’m reading it. Let me re-read the whole sheet.

The title is: *“What should you do in case of an earthquake? Colour the boxes with correct actions.”*

Then:

> 1. If you are in your house you must..
> [image: kids playing] → “keep playing”
> [image: kids walking away from building] → “walk out quickly”

But according to FEMA and Red Cross:
➡️ If you are INDOORS, STAY INDOORS. Do NOT run outside.
➡️ Only evacuate AFTER shaking stops, and use stairs.

So actually, NEITHER option in Q1 is fully correct — but between the two, “walk out quickly” is worse because it encourages moving during shaking.

Wait — maybe the worksheet expects “walk out quickly” as the answer? That would be wrong scientifically.

Alternatively — perhaps the images give clues. In the left image (keep playing), the room looks messy with stuff falling — bad idea to stay playing. In the right image, kids are walking calmly away from buildings — which is okay AFTER shaking stops.

But the question says “you must...” — present tense, during the quake.

I think there may be an error in the worksheet design. However, since this is for students, and based on common simplified teaching materials, sometimes they say: “if you’re inside, get outside quickly” — which is outdated advice.

Modern guidance (since ~2000s) is: Drop, Cover, Hold On — especially in modern buildings.

Given that Question 4 has “drop, cover, hold”, it suggests the worksheet knows the correct protocol.

Therefore, for Question 1, since both options are flawed, but “keep playing” is clearly wrong, and “walk out quickly” might be intended as “leave the building after shaking stops”, perhaps that’s the expected answer? But that contradicts Q4.

Wait — let’s think differently. Maybe Question 1 is asking what to do IMMEDIATELY when you feel shaking — and the correct action is NOT shown in Q1, but IS shown in Q4. So perhaps for Q1, we’re supposed to realize that “keep playing” is wrong, and “walk out quickly” is also wrong — but since we have to pick one, and the worksheet likely wants us to avoid staying put playing, maybe “walk out quickly” is the lesser evil?

No — that’s not good teaching.

Perhaps the worksheet has a typo, and Question 1 was meant to be paired with different images/options.

Looking again — in many elementary worksheets, they simplify it as:

- Inside? Get outside fast. ← Old advice
- Outside? Stay away from buildings.
- In car? Stop safely.

But current science says: Inside? Drop, cover, hold.

Since Q4 explicitly teaches “drop, cover, hold”, I believe Q1 is poorly designed. But for the sake of completing the task as intended by the worksheet author, let’s assume they want:

For Q1: “walk out quickly” — meaning evacuate the building (even though timing matters).

But wait — in the image for “walk out quickly”, the kids are already outside, walking away from damaged buildings — which is correct AFTER the quake.

Whereas “keep playing” shows them ignoring danger — definitely wrong.

So perhaps the intended answer for Q1 is “walk out quickly”, interpreting it as “evacuate the building once it’s safe”.

Similarly, in Q3, “staircase” is correct.

In Q4, “drop, cover, hold” is correct.

That leaves Q1 — we’ll go with “walk out quickly” as the intended answer, even though it’s not perfectly accurate.

But let me double-check with reliable sources.

According to USGS:
“If you are indoors when shaking starts, DROP, COVER, AND HOLD ON. Do not try to run outside.”

So “walk out quickly” is incorrect during shaking.

This means the worksheet has an error in Q1.

However, since this is a student assignment, and we must choose from given options, and “keep playing” is obviously wrong, the only logical choice left is “walk out quickly” — assuming the context is “after initial shock” or “if you’re near exit”.

Alternatively — maybe the worksheet intends for Q1 to be answered with “walk out quickly” and Q4 with “drop, cover, hold” to show two scenarios: if you can escape easily vs. if you can’t.

That makes sense pedagogically.

So final decisions:

- Q1: walk out quickly *(assuming you can do so safely and immediately)*
- Q3: staircase
- Q4: drop, cover, hold

Note: There is no Q2 — probably a numbering skip.

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Final Answer:

1. walk out quickly
3. staircase
4. drop, cover, hold