Need info from people living in earthquake zones.

I need some help from those of you who live with the threat of earthquakes. This is for the series of articles I'm writing on Emergency Planning for Pet Owners. I have a friend who lost her house in the Loma Preata(sp?) quake. She said that emergency management in CA kept telling them to have a weeks survival supplies assembled in case of a quake. They did, and they couldn't get at any of it because the house collapsed on top of it. I would like to know what precautions you are being told to take and how to best store your supplies. Would it be better to store survival supplies in a garage or shed, because if that collapsed it would be easier to dig out? Has someone come up with a storage system that is designed for outdoors? Has anyone even addressed this problem?