Picking up after a disaster starts with an assessment. In the case of your property surviving the wrath of nature or Acts of God, taking stock of what damage it sustained from the event is a priority.

Here, we take you through five key safety checks after an earthquake, what you need to do first to properly assess the damage your home sustained from the shaking, so you can decide what to address in the process of picking up.

Safety First

Before returning to your property and checking it, make sure to observe a couple of safety rules:

• Return to your locale only after competent professionals and authorities declare it safe.
• Inform friends and family, if not the authorities (like your neighborhood council), that you are going back to your property to check it.
• Wear safety gear like hard hats, masks, sturdy boots, and hazard jackets. If these aren’t available, wear bright clothing and long-sleeved shirts or jackets.
• Bring flashlights or rechargeable lamps. Do not go around a disaster area with anything that can trigger a fire, as gas mains and hoses to LPG tanks might be loose.
• Bring tools like a meter stick, tape measures, or a bevel to help you check for flatness.

Government offices should also be doing damage assessments in the aftermath of an earthquake, especially in highly urbanized areas. Their teams often include structural engineers and other trained professionals who can do a thorough safety check of structures in an affected area.

The same goes if your home is in a high-rise, like a condominium. The administrator might be required to do a post-event assessment, at least of the general facility your unit is located in.

Depending on the size of your property and the severity of the disaster in your area, you might need to hire a licensed structural engineer to make the assessments.

Checking on the Outside

Your first check should be a thorough inspection of the outside of your home. For condominium-type domiciles, this might already be done or is in the process of being so, by your building administrator, so let them finish those checks first before doing yours inside your unit.

For those with stand-alone houses, be sure to pay attention to the conditions of your immediate grounds, the foundations of the house, and its walls. Obvious cracks and damage might mean you should skip an inside check until a structural engineer does a more thorough assessment to ensure everyone’s safety.

Inside Checks: Frames and Supports

If you are sure your house remains stable while you are inside it and you can easily enter through one of your doors, start your assessment by surveying the pillars and columns of your house, as well as the walls. You are looking for cracks and anything out of the ordinary, like leaning walls.

Some damage might be hard to see, especially hairline fractures on support structures, so do a thorough inspection before proceeding with the rest of your house.

Inside Checks: Floors and Ceilings

Floor checks are important for multi-storey houses because damage can compromise the integrity of the house or hurt anyone below upper-storey floors.

Damage to ceilings is also important. Include fixtures connected to them, like overhead lamps. You are looking for anything that might fall on any of you in case of aftershocks or even because its connections have come loose during a quake.

Inside Checks: Gas and Electrical

Sources of gas into your home, whether via piped supply or stove connections to an LPG, should also be a priority safety check after earthquakes, especially for the latter if the fuel tank is not in a very secure location, like a freestanding position beside your stove. You are, of course, looking to avoid any accidental fires or even explosions in case of a gas leak. 

If you smell gas and cannot reach your LPG tank or valves, leave immediately and inform the authorities, especially if there is no clear ventilation where the leak is and it has been hours since you returned.

Damaged electrical wiring should also be assessed, like that connected to lighting fixtures, as they could spark and be a source of fire.

Inside Checks: Windows and Doors

Windows and doors should also be checked for several reasons. The first is that they provide you and your family with emergency escape exits in case of any future disasters. If they can’t be easily opened from the inside, that could seriously compromise your family’s safety.

If doors and windows are having problems opening or closing, that could be a sign of unseen structural damage. If you are having difficulty with your doors and windows, check their connections for any issues. Don’t force their opening or closing without a more thorough assessment, as the structures they are connected to might be compromised, and your attempts are all that’s needed to make them fail.

Ensure Your Home is Safe From Disasters

Post-disaster assessments are key to ensuring your home can be livable again as soon as possible. Helping ensure its continued livability can be assisted by home and property insurance. Depending on the plan, it can provide you with access to financial or professional assistance when making your safety checks.

Reliable Insurance brokers are ready to assist you in choosing the right coverage for disasters. Most importantly, we’ll be here in the off chance a disaster does happen, and you need to know how your plan can help you deal with its aftermath. Give us a call anytime.

Contact Information for Inquiries and Support

If you have any questions or need assistance with your insurance, feel free to reach out to us:

• Call: +63 2 8631 9285 to 86
• Mobile: +63 917 138 5120
• Email: info@reliable-insurance.ph
• Messenger: m.me/reliable.insurancebrokersph

Sources:

• Center for Disease Control (2024, February 17), Safety Guidelines: After an Earthquake.
• Flash (2025, October 6), How to Inspect, Clean Up, and Re-enter Your Home After a Disaster
• Rappler (2025, October 15), How Engineers Check If A Building Is Safe After An Earthquake.
• Oklahoma State (No Date), Checking Inside & Outside The Home For Earthquake Damage.
• Sunstar (2025, October 1), 6 Crucial Checks: Is Your House Safe? What To Inspect Immediately After An Earthquake.