Chile’s Massive Earthquake Highlights the Necessity of Preparedness

Early Saturday morning, February 27, a massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit Chile. With death toll estimates steadily climbing from the original estimate of a little over 100, it is a sad reminder that at any time a natural disaster can occur. Creating more cause for concern, the 8.8 magnitude earthquake did not mark the end of the disaster. Hawaii began preparing for a tsunami around 6 a.m. Saturday, with fears that it may strike within several hours. Can preparedness really help you in the face of such a large-scale natural disaster?

A tsunami can travel at the speed of a jet plane. At 400 to 500 miles per hour, a tsunami can wreak havoc on most any location. As we have seen in the past with the Indian Ocean tsunami. How then, can preparedness possibly help your chances of survivability? Let’s take Haiti for example. The earthquake that hit Haiti was not quite as large as the one that hit Chile. In fact, the earthquake that hit Chile was 700 to 800 times larger. Yet, the death toll was astronomically smaller. While that could be attributed to the lack of knowledge pertaining to the deaths in Chile, it is not very likely.

Chile has frequent earthquakes. Many of the residents there are used to such catastrophic events. They may not have everything that is about to be discussed in this article, but they are no strangers to earthquakes.

Anita Herrera, at the Hotel Kennedy in Santiago, said “Our hotel is built for this.” She went on to say, “In Chile, this happens many times.” – CNN Interview

Being prepared is a key part of survival that modern society has essentially established for us. With processed foods making up 90% of what is purchased at the grocery store, it is no wonder we are dependent on others for our own survival. It doesn’t take a complete overhaul of our lifestyle to be self-sufficient to some extent. One way to be self-sustainable is to buy storeble food, but you may not even have to go that far.

Are You Taking Care of Your Well-Being Right Now?

Before you go and prepare for the future, make sure you’ve set a strong agenda for yourself right now. Ensuring you are paying attention to your health right now is much more important than thinking about how you will take care of yourself in the future. Are you one of the people purchasing only processed foods, with MSG and aspartame ingredients? If so, rid these harmful products from your diet now to ensure you are successful later on. How can you be prepared later on if you are not currently living a healthy lifestyle.

Being Prepared for Any Catastrophe, Natural Disaster, or Economic Depression

Its impossible to predict the future. That being said, its impossible to highlight everything you will ever need for any incident that occurs over the course of the next few years. But while you cannot predict the future, you can study history. History shows us the strengths and weaknesses of the people who have endured the hardest of times. One of these times happens to be the great depression.

Millions had to wait in government-sponsored breadlines, or spend days trying to find odd jobs just to buy enough food to survive. There has been recent controversy over the death toll of the great depression, with many researches saying that millions died from starvation alone. Whether or not this is true, the necessity of preparedness remains. At that time, the dollar was essentially rendered worthless due to inflation. Those who had real assets were king, and those who clung to their dollar were peons.

The ones with food were the ones with the power, not the wealthy. This highlights the importance of real assets such as food and precious metals. I’m not in the business of selling either one of these, and i receive no compensation for their promotion – it’s just the truth. In order to ensure that you are prepared for any crisis, you must have something that is worth something. Paper is not worth very much. The dollar is being inflated at record numbers, and many economists are saying we are either in a depression or headed towards one. What do you have that is worth something?

Real Value, Real Assets, Real Nutrition

The economic structure of a nation, state, or region changes dramatically in the face of any type of crisis. A dollar suddenly becomes a piece of paper. If you have a decent-sized garden, then you will be able to provide food for yourself and your family. If you have a means of fresh water, such as a well or an Ecoloblue, then you will be able to make fresh water even if your faucet does not produce any (not that your faucet produces drinkable water without a filter anyway).

Creating an environment in which you can survive without outside assistance is truly being self-sufficient. You do not have to sell your home and move to a farm, just remember that its important to be prepared.

Best Preparedness Measures

Make friends with your neighbors – Your neighbors will most likely be there in your time of need. Invite them over for dinner, or get to know them a little bed. They may be able to offer you something that you need, and you may be able to help hem out as well.

Plant your own garden – If the supermarkets are out of food, then you will be forced to wait for governmental assistance. With your own garden, you will be able to provide for yourself 24/7. Even if there is no crisis, this saves money. Remember to get non-genetically modified seeds.

Take control of your health – Why bother doing all of this if you aren’t concerned about your health right now? Change your diet for the better, and start an exercise routine. Check out our Nutrition section, and the Healthy Living section to get started. All of our information is free and applicable to your daily routine.

Nutritional supplements – Its hard to get enough vitamins and minerals into your diet. Crisis, aside you should have some quality nutritional supplements. This becomes even more critical during a crisis, where food may be scarce. Purchase a supply of quality multivitamins that are high in critical vitamins like C and D.

Invest in real assets! Gold, silver, food, water, guns, etc. are valuable because of their scarcity, practicality, and realistic use. The dollar has only the worth of the paper it is printed on in a real crisis.

Create your own water source – With little to no water, or polluted water, its important to ensure you have enough water. You can go for quite some time without food, but you can only go a few days without water. Invest in a water filtration system, or have some fresh water stored in a convenient location.