Earthquake Latches for Cabinets

A friend who lived through a major earthquake in Southern California complained that one of the worst scenarios in her home was all the stuff falling out of her kitchen cabinets - cooking oil, wine, vinegar - all mixed in with broken glass and dishware. Sure, you could jab a piece of wood through the door pulls but how ugly and inconvenient would that be? I wanted a device that could be operated with one hand and had minimal visual impact. This is what I came up with . . .

Determine:

• the distance between door pulls
• the diameter of the stem of the door pull
• how much clearance you have between the door and the door pull

Once I created the design I took the schematic to TAP Plastics and had them fabricated a bunch of these for my kitchen out of 1/8" clear plexi. I chose plexi so they would have a minimal presence and not be a visual distraction. Depending on the decor of your kitchen you could also use wood or colored plastic.

To install simply unfasten the bottom screw from the back of the door and pivot out the door pull. Slip the fabricated safety latch in place and re-fasten. Voila! Now you are ready in the event of an earthquake . . . well, at least as far as the stuff in your cabinets is concerned.

For doors with one door handle I installed little latches from under the cabinet.