What sorts of things can the government and
populations do to prepare for an earthquake if they only
have a few seconds notice before the earthquake hits?

Schools can teach children what to do during an earthquake, the government could require shops to sell special packs to prepare for earthquakes (flashlight, dehydrated food, bandages etc) have alarms maybe when an earthquake is being sensed

The answer to this will be from your lab notes/procedure. it would be best to ask another student who participated in the lab as we do not know what was done, what enzyme or if the temperature is celsius or fahrenheit. if i were to guess though i'd say the rate stopped due to enzyme denturing at high temperature

Ascience cannot answer religious question