First 72 Hours After the Big One: Family Survival Guide

A powerful earthquake has shaken Metro Manila. The ground is still, but one parent is at home, another is at work and a child is in school. The family cannot immediately reach one another. Nobody yet knows whether the apartment, office or classroom can be used safely. What matters in the next half-hour is not the same as what will matter by tomorrow morning.

The first 72 hours are a useful preparedness horizon. They are not a deadline by which aftershocks will stop, utilities will return or government relief will reach every household. The safest plan is flexible, follows official local instructions and accounts for disruptions lasting longer than three days.

At a glance: During the shaking, protect yourself. Immediately afterward, assess injuries, fire, falling objects and other clear dangers before deciding whether to leave. In the following hours, follow official instructions, account for loved ones, identify safer shelter and protect access to water, medicines and essential information. Reassess conditions throughout the next three days—and prepare for disruptions to continue longer.

For context, WVF previously covered OCD-NCR’s call for 72-hour family self-sufficiency. This guide extends that preparedness message into the sequence of choices a household may face, rather than forecasting what every district will experience.

A woman and man crouch under a wooden table during an apparent crisis, with a hanging light fixture about to fall and books flying from a nearby bookshelf in a modern living room.

The first 30 minutes: make safety decisions before recovery decisions

As shaking begins, Drop, Cover and Hold On. Stay away from windows, unsecured cabinets and other falling objects where you can do so without putting yourself at greater risk. Do not run down stairs or toward a building exit while the ground is moving. In a high-rise, do not use an elevator during an earthquake.

When strong shaking stops, protect yourself from another immediate hazard: unstable fixtures, shattered glass, falling façade materials, damaged utilities and possible aftershocks. Put on shoes if available. Check yourself and people nearby for serious injury. Call for emergency help when available; begin first aid within your training, taking care not to move seriously injured people unless they face immediate danger.

Should everyone leave the building immediately? Not necessarily. An open area may be safer than a damaged building, but a crowded street beneath glass, signboards, electrical lines or unstable walls may expose people to additional hazards. Look for obvious danger such as fire, smoke, falling material, significant visible damage or instructions to evacuate. Follow trained building personnel and local authorities. If remaining inside creates immediate danger, leave by the safest usable route; otherwise avoid impulsive movement into an equally dangerous area.

If you are working in a high-rise building you may want to check High-Rise Earthquake Evacuation, Part 1 for safe steps to take before starting down the building.

Visible cracks do not, by themselves, tell a household whether a structure is safe or unsafe, and the absence of obvious damage is not a guarantee of structural integrity. Where a building appears compromised, do not reoccupy it until competent authorities and qualified structural professionals have assessed it. PHIVOLCS advises coordination with municipal or city engineering offices for affected buildings and warns that aftershocks can further damage weakened structures.

A family sitting on the grass in a park, with a man and woman looking at a smartphone while a young girl leans against the woman. The background features a city skyline with tall buildings, and other people are scattered around the park.

30 minutes to six hours: account for your family without creating another emergency

Use the household’s prearranged contact plan. Send a short message stating your name, current location, condition and intended next action when a channel is available. Keep messages factual and concise. If voice calls cannot connect, a text message may sometimes get through later; neither SMS nor mobile internet is guaranteed during infrastructure disruption. Use an agreed out-of-area contact when possible, conserve device power and keep trying at reasonable intervals.

If a child is at school, follow the school’s emergency custody and reunification instructions. Do not assume that a normal school pickup routine is safe or operational. If a family member is at work, they should follow workplace safety and accountability procedures before attempting travel. The household plan should establish an agreed meeting location and an alternate location in case the first is inaccessible. Part of your preparedness initiative is to determine What Hazards Surround Your Child’s School?

Official information should come from PHIVOLCS, the local disaster risk reduction and management office, recognized emergency services, building management and the relevant school or employer. Do not circulate unconfirmed earthquake predictions, fabricated bridge-collapse alerts or invented evacuation-center lists.

Suppose a child is at school in Quezon City, one parent is working in Makati and the other is in a condominium elsewhere. Their first task is not to converge on the school at any cost. Each adult should follow immediate building and local safety instructions, send a brief status message if possible and check the school’s established reunification procedure. An authorized caregiver can use the family’s prearranged backup pickup plan if the school confirms that it is safe to do so. If communications fail, the family should rely on written contact details and previously agreed arrangements, not an improvised journey along unverified routes.

A group of people sitting outside in a temporary campsite with red tents in the background, including an elderly woman in a chair, a young man in conversation with her, and a woman with a child on the ground.

Six to 24 hours: make the first night safer

A household’s practical problem may now shift from immediate protection to shelter. Some families may be able to remain in a building assessed as suitable for occupancy; others may need temporary accommodation or a designated evacuation facility. Do not treat a social-media rumor about an ‘open evacuation center’ as confirmation of its location, capacity or suitability. Verify arrangements through the barangay or local government unit (LGU).

Check water, ready-to-eat food, essential medicines, first-aid materials, personal hygiene supplies, a flashlight, communication power and the needs of babies, pregnant people, older adults, persons with disabilities and pets. Make a short written inventory rather than relying on memory under stress. Refrigerated food may become unsafe during prolonged loss of electricity; follow food-safety guidance rather than judging it only by smell. For a practical household equipment review, use WVF’s Emergency Preparedness Essentials. If keeping phones, lights, a router or a fan running during an outage is a concern, see When the Power Goes Out After an Earthquake.

Do not operate portable generators, charcoal grills or fuel-burning stoves indoors, in enclosed corridors or near windows. Carbon monoxide can kill without obvious warning. Use battery-powered lighting instead of candles whenever possible, especially around damaged or crowded structures.

A neatly arranged emergency kit laid out on a wooden table, featuring a red backpack labeled 'EMERGENCY KIT', bottled water, a yellow radio, first aid kit, LED flashlight with batteries, multi-tool, flashlight, emergency food rations, a map, notepad with 'EARTHQUAKE PLAN', gloves, duct tape, and cash.

Hours 24–48: conserve resources and reassess changing hazards

Take stock of remaining supplies and allocate them according to actual medical and household requirements. Avoid blanket rationing advice that could leave children, older adults or ill family members without adequate fluids. If the water supply is compromised, use commercially bottled water where available or follow official instructions for making microbiologically unsafe water potable. Boiling or disinfecting does not remove fuel or toxic chemical contamination.

Check for official announcements from your barangay and LGU on drinking-water distribution, evacuation facilities, health services and access restrictions. Record where and when announcements were issued. Household safety conditions can change after aftershocks, rain or new reports of structural damage; do not assume a route or building remains safe because it was passable yesterday.

family camping trip with children outdoors — Photo by rakhmat suwandi on Pexels.com

Hours 48–72: plan beyond day three rather than waiting for a rescue deadline

Seventy-two hours may pass before some households regain normal services. Others could receive assistance sooner. There is no uniform response clock for a hypothetical major Metro Manila earthquake. Continue following public advisories and avoid relying on a promised restoration time unless it comes from the responsible provider or authority.

Families in temporary shelter should revisit their medical, hygiene, privacy, accessibility and child-protection needs. Households considering returning to damaged homes should seek appropriate official clearance and professional assessment, not reassurance from neighbors or online photographs. Do not cross restricted areas to recover possessions.

Begin recording important information: the names of relatives accounted for, medication requirements, verified assistance arrangements, property damage that can be documented safely and necessary contact numbers. This record can help when communications return or when applying for authorized assistance.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises storing at least one US gallon (about 3.8 liters) of water per person per day for three days. This is a basic planning quantity for drinking, cooking and other limited essential uses—not a guarantee that all sanitation, bathing or special medical needs are covered. More may be needed in hot conditions and for pregnant people, people who are ill or households with other specific requirements.

Where practical, build a larger reserve, use clean food-grade containers and rotate stored supplies according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For households that cannot store much water, identify additional safe sources before a disaster, recognizing that nearby shops and distribution networks may also be disrupted.

A family of four is gathered around a coffee table, studying a map. There are backpacks, bottles of water, snacks, and various items spread out on the table. The setting is a cozy living room with a modern couch and colorful cushions.

Build the family plan before the earthquake

Write down at least two meeting places, one nearby and one outside the immediate neighborhood if appropriate. Choose an out-of-area contact and make sure each member knows how to reach that person. Clarify who would pick up children, who will help a member with limited mobility, where prescriptions are stored and how someone will check on relatives who live alone.

Keep essential supplies accessible without creating the expectation that everyone must retrieve a bag before leaving danger. The household kit may include water, nonperishable food, a torch, radio, spare batteries or power bank, first-aid items, maintenance medications, masks, hygiene supplies, copies of important records and small-denomination cash. Adapt the kit to the household and routinely check expiry dates and device charge. WVF’s Emergency Preparedness Essentials organizes these needs by category so families can identify what they already have and what still needs to be added.

The most useful first-72-hour plan is not a prediction of a disaster. It is a way for an ordinary household to keep making safer decisions when familiar services may not be working. Protect life first. Find a safer place. Account for family. Preserve water, medicines and reliable information. Reassess conditions rather than assuming the third day marks the end of the emergency.

TURN THE 72-HOUR PLAN INTO A HOUSEHOLD SYSTEM

Build the family plan before communications fail

WVF Family Emergency Planner digital workbook for household earthquake preparedness

The WVF Family Emergency Planner helps households organize meeting points, emergency contacts, child pickup arrangements, responsibilities, medication information, evacuation details and essential records before an earthquake disrupts normal routines.

Get the Family Emergency Planner

Already have a plan? Review Emergency Preparedness Essentials for supplies and equipment that support the first 72 hours.

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