natural gas leaks have been responsible for a significant number of fires following major earthquakes for example during the 1994 northridge earthquake 67 percent of residential fires were the result of leaking natural gas after a major earthquake 911 responders like fire police even utility personnel will be overwhelmed consequently it is vital that all household members know when and how to shut off the natural gas in the event they smell or notice it leaking when thinking about natural gas the first thing you want to do is identify where gas meter is located where probably the front third of your house obviously on the side and like in this case so once you've identified where the gas meter is next thing is identify the natural gas shutoff valve that will be the first fitting out of the ground is the natural gas shutoff valve note where it is right now because that's in the on position next thing you want to notice the dials dials will indicate how much is being used the three things you want to think about if you smell a leak if you hear a leak or you notice unusual usage that might be the time to pull out the wrench and shut that gas off once you've determined there's a natural gas leak take out your wrench and identify the valve first one out of the ground turn it a quarter turn so it's crosswise with the pipe now this valve can turn in either direction note never turn the gas back on once it has been shut off if you do you may create a gas leak in your home only qualified gas personnel should turn it back on they need to inspect your system for post-earthquake leaks and equipment failures you