SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. — How are you going to get help when the big earthquake happens? 

Karen Sima invited everyone on her street over to her home in South Pasadena.

“Hopefully it’ll be crowded!” Sima said beforehand.

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Sima has always lived in California. She’s been through several earthquakes, yet the quake out of Ridgecrest this summer shook her home and her sense of security.

“It’s very, very scary and when they first start you don’t know how hard they’re going to get or how hard they’re going to last,” said Sima.

She gathered her neighbors to get ready for the big one. Moments after the shaking stops, police and firefighters won’t be able to get to everyone right away. Our neighbors will probably be the first ones to help.

Map Your Neighborhood is a nine-step program listing what to do moments after disaster.

“In the first hour after an earthquake you will be able to get to every single house, so nobody will be left unattended,” said Anne Nowlin, a leader in Altadena’s Map Your Neighborhood, as she addressed Sima’s block.

Nowlin teaches earthquake preparedness to people who live near each other, in small groups, so they can be accountable for everyone’s wellbeing.

The county of Los Angeles estimates 70 percent of all rescues in major disasters are done by neighbors rather than trained first responders.