People across the Bay Area are encouraged to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” to practice their earthquake response Thursday morning as part of the Great California ShakeOut drill.
The event is part of the larger International ShakeOut Day, which seeks to get people to participate in earthquake drills every Oct. 19.
It’s a particularly important exercise in California — which is also where the drill was first organized — because, as the Great California ShakeOut wrote on its website, “all of California is at high risk compared to the rest of the county.”
“Most people in the Bay Area live less than 10 miles from a fault that can have a damaging earthquake,” it also said on its website.
This year, the drill will come a day after people across the Central Valley and even as far as the Bay Area got emergency phone alerts reporting an estimated 5.7 magnitude earthquake in Sacramento County. It later turned out the actual tremor measured at a magnitude of 4.2.
People across California will be getting another alert at 10:19 a.m. Thursday, though this time it’ll simply be a test of MyShake alerts planned to coincide with the Great California ShakeOut drill.
But the exercise isn’t just about the moments after an earthquake. That momentary preparedness is just one step of necessary safety precautions. Beyond “Drop, Cover and Hold On”, the drills are a reminder to update emergency plans and supplies.
“The goal is to prevent a major catastrophe for you, your organization, and your community,” the official Great California Shakeout said on its website.
Source: NBC Bay Area
Be First to Comment