apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Move to Colorado as we don't have earthquakes.

Don't do it. My husband could tell you horror stories about shelves and the Northridge quake.

Just use some butterfly screw anchors, and you should be fine.

http://images.google.com/images?q=butterfly anchor

are you worried about the shelves collapsing or items falling off? if the later, you could run a frame hanging wire from one end of the shelf to other to prevent most items from falling down

*latter

We lived about 2 miles from the epicenter of the Northridge earthquake when it struck. Just about everything in our home that could be broken or destroyed, was. Our house was red tagged and we had to move. My advice would be...don't put anything fragile up high. When a quake like the Northridge one hits again, I'm not sure wire would help.

To add to what fuzzypicklepie said, don't put anything HEAVY (like books) on high shelves either. It will not only break whatever's under it, but it can kill your pet.

i grew up in l.a. my parents basically used a bit of wire around anything that they cared about or anything that would break if it fell off a tall shelf. so vases, statues, etc., all were attached to the wall behind them with something (either wire attached to the back of the object, wrapped around the object, etc., and then tied to an eyelet screw in the wall). books and things we never really worried about; in an earthquake, you just let them fall; or, you could put a small lip on the edge of your shelves so that the books are easily accessed, but have a more difficult time falling off. And all of these solutions are essentially invisible, so that it's not an eyesore.

Go ahead, put up the high shelves!

A rogue earthquake hit Chicago last year that half of the city didn't even feel, and I was the only person for miles around to have any damage...heavy mirrors slid off my mantle, destroying all the vintage glass in front of them and gouging a huge divot in my floor. When I moved to LA an antiques dealer told me about something called earthquake glue...that might be something to consider. Or is that a super-common, obvious thing out here? I hadn't heard of it before.

there is also something called museum wax which you can put on the bottom of things likes statues, vases, ect. it keeps things secure it's kind of like that sticky stuff you had in school to put up posters but stronger.

If you want to put books on a high shelf, I think you should listen to everyone else about how dangerous they are if they fall and if you still must at least put a lip around the shelf to try to keep them up. If it's anything glass, best idea is never ever put it up high.

The one worry about putting things on shelves in small spaces is that they will fall down and block your escape. If you don't mind the items being damaged, then don't worry. Unless you or any other living thing sleep under the items, then don't worry. Really, I grew up in SoCal and my entire family lived in the Valley, but you cannot always be afraid of earthquakes. Beware of fragile items, never put anything heavy where it could fall on your bed, and make sure you have a clear escape route just in case. Really if the quake is big enough to knock stuff off your shelves, then it's big enough to knock things off of tables.

Museum wax is amazing stuff. My mom uses it now (an earthquake damaged their home some years ago) and you can pick up the shelf and hold it sideways and STILL nothing slides off.

If you're going to put books up there or other heavy things, add a rail or something to keep them from sliding off.

If the shelf is properly mounted, there's no reason to worry about it falling. If it does, the odds are good that the wall went, too as far as I'm concerned.

if you are hanging it for books in the kitchen like the picture, i'd say go ahead coz books wont break even if they fall. and you are not there for a long period of time. but i wont load it up like the picture.

just dont do it in your bedroom, like above your desk with computer, around your bed, or above your head.

I'm right on top of the Santa Monica Fault Line. I use the standard rack and bracket shelving partly because it solves this problem; the wood shelving can be secured to the brackets with strong screws, and the brackets stay up in an earthquake. I'm reminded by all the comments that I need to move "put front rails on all bookshelves" to the top of my to-do list, and that I should actually use the museum wax I bought.

Properly secure the shelves, to the wall, with the correct fasteners for your wall type and the shelving will be fine. To keep things ON the shelves, the best things I've found include a metal railing used on boats (that was recommended here on AT plus):

* museum putty (aka museum wax)
* hot or cold melt glue (as a sub for museum wax - it works for keeping things put in the smaller quakes but museum wax is a better choice since it won't mar surfaces)
* non-skid mat (used for glassware inside cabinetry, it comes in various colors, on higher shelves you won't even see it... find this in the housewares section of big box stores like BB&B and Lowe's and Home Depot)

Always, always, strap bookcases and heavy items to the studs. My friend related after the Northridge quake that her neighbor was killed by a microwave flying from one side of the kitchen to the other (you just don't realize what a serious shake can do to those ordinary household items). In my friend's case her home was destroyed, and she opted to move to Northern CA, where the ground hasn't stopped shaking since her arrival! I agree with Lisa (Montreal) about your pets, please take steps to protect them, they have less ability to survive a strong quake than we do (simply because of flying and falling debris).

Kind of puts my worrying about the deer eating my plants into perspective here in NJ. So, I'm curious ~ what happens if those wall-mounted knives should fall during an earthquake? I guess they magnet will keep them together?

I've been in some pretty interesting quakes, and when I was one of the managers of a very large store on the San Andreas fault, I tried to get all overhead supplies, texts, etc., secured with industrial netting - I thought to use it permanently affixed on the top w/ingress - egress from the bottom of the shelf would be perfect.

Perhaps some who embrace the "60's Laugh In" approach home decor to the could appreciate the widely utilized and visually familiar bright orange/plastic netting (with a primary colored shelf of blue, whatever: hot) or if there's a wish for industrial, even easier with metal shelving and the many varieties of 'that's why they call it industrial' netting - variety of metals, etc - easy in the Googsearchmachine. Also there's the distressed wood with a sort of fisher net, utilizing antique/old school clunk nails in pattern for affixing - or, if your a knitter, don't even get me started on the yarn (combo weave designs in millions -to strengthen beyond single string - sorry to state the obvious) and of course there is always ... invisible, see-thru fishing line.

I know I'm a freak monster about this stuff but the incredible array of choice for design here gets me a little bouncy in my chair: the obvious drawback is that this is much easier if you want to use this for long term display, storage (for me it would be collection of Japanese tin robots trapped in a cold setting on display or a warmer choice for my favoritest fiction literature to be on display because I do not access them with any regularity)

The only thing that is really challenging here is if you want to spend the time doing your own weave vs buying premade and how you would choose to affix the bottom (ingress/egress) of the shelf if it were something you wanted regular access to: industrially speaking, who would know what the tension limits would be on a series of snaps, etc? Or you could simply use some plexiglass, there's so many ways. You can't let the imminent quake limit you. Only landlords can do that!

As far as a generalization, I think it's great that you are thinking ahead (having a large earthquake kit myself, a small car set and a take away backpack in my home in case we're the lucky ones to be here when the Hayward fault wakes up -you really need to at least have a large amount of water on hand and affix heavy furniture to studs, ok?) because I've lived through tornado alley, hurricane areas, places like Denver where freak massive several feet of snowfall can crush stick-made homes and suffocate the family inside: anywhere you go it's all about preparation - and your personal touch. Except for the snowfall one: saw that recently on tv and I can't wrap my head around how to prep for the house collapsing several feet of suffocating snow - and I've lived in heavy snow areas as well, New York State -brutal Nor & the Westy, etc. Maybe Dave knows? :)

Thanks for listening, and as one who lives in Nort and Souf Cal - welcome aboard. I now win the longest answer to the shortest question award. Except it's not an award. It's a slinking away, looking embarrassed. KBai.

An earthquake will either destroy nothing in your house or it will destroy your entire house. If you lose the whole house, it won't matter whether you had shelves or not. Just don't put anything on a shelf that you can't stand to see fall to the floor, or use quake or museum wax if you are worried about something in particular.