Quake Readiness Study Raises Concerns : Emergencies: Poll of voters finds that many were unsure which safety measure to take first during a major temblor.

A survey of 600 California voters conducted for the state Office of Emergency Services indicates that a majority do not know what safety step to take first during a big earthquake and that 31% believe it is useless to prepare for a quake.

The director of the office, the state’s principal disaster agency, expressed concern at the findings Monday, saying that every study has shown that death and injury can be minimized if people make preparations and act properly once a quake begins.

Director Richard Andrews said he was particularly concerned by a finding that only 19% of those surveyed--when asked what they would do first if a quake struck--answered that they would get under a table, while 40% said they would get in a doorway and 11% would run outside.

“Although the doorway is often considered the strongest part of a room, a more effective action is to ‘duck, cover and hold’ under the nearest sturdy table or desk,” Andrews said. “Despite what about 1 in 10 survey respondents believe, running outside during an earthquake is not advisable.”

When the question was narrowed to give respondents a choice between a table, a door and going outside, 57% chose the table, indicating that when prompted to think more about it, most people came to the right answer.

Because the survey by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates included only voters, the sample was not representative of the state’s population. For instance, only about 8% of the respondents were Latino while the state’s population is about 25% Latino. A survey that only includes voters also frequently understates the numbers of poor and young.

An emergency services spokesman, Tom Mullins, said that to save money, the poll questions were tacked onto a political survey of voters.

Of those surveyed, 17% said they believed that the next major earthquake would occur in their area in the next year, 27% said in the next one to five years and 11% in the next six to 15 years.

About 60% said they were not that worried about earthquakes, while 30% said they were somewhat worried, 5% very worried and 4% extremely worried, while 1% said they didn’t know.

The poll found that 70% said they had been through a major earthquake, while 30% said they had not.

The survey found that many people keep safety equipment close by in case a quake strikes. For instance, 96% said they had a working flashlight, 92% had a portable radio, 85% had extra batteries, 84% had a wrench to turn off the gas, 70% kept shoes next to the bed while they slept, 67% had a well-stocked first aid kit, and 64% had a charged fire extinguisher.

Also, 55% said they had a week’s supply of food for their pets.