Get ready to drop, cover and hold on! Over 10 million people from California have registered to practice these three steps on Oct. 17, International ShakeOut Day.
“ShakeOut is an annual reminder and practice about how people can protect themselves during earthquakes,” Los Angeles-based Mark Benthien, global coordinator of ShakeOut, told The Epoch Times.
Benthien is also the executive director of Earthquake Country Alliance, which organized the first ShakeOut event as an earthquake drill in Los Angeles in 2008. “We had no idea that it would grow statewide, then across the country, and around the world,” said Benthien in an Oct. 16 statement.
Californians to Experience at Least One Big Earthquake in Their Lifetime
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the probability of an earthquake of magnitude 6.7, 7, or 7.5 to occur in the Los Angeles area in the next 30 years is 60 percent, 46 percent, and 31 percent, respectively, and the estimates for San Francisco are 72 percent, 51 percent, and 20 percent.Kate Scharer, geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pasadena Office, said California sits on top of the boundary of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate, and this boundary is called the San Andres Fault and other associated faults. This puts California at high risk of earthquakes.
“The plates are always moving but also stuck together, so energy from the moving plates accumulates. ... The energy has to be released at some point, and that would be the earthquake,” she said. “We will certainly experience at least one big earthquake in our lifetime.”
Scharer said that although earthquakes cannot be predicted, geologists have set up hundreds of seismic stations across California to monitor seismic signals. If the very first wave of shaking is detected by at least three seismic stations, it will automatically send out an alert ahead of the bigger shaking.
“The purpose of the alert is really to tell you to get under the table when the shaking happens. But you have to prepare ahead. You have to prepare water and have an emergency plan. The alert will not help you with that,” she said.
Be Prepared
Prior to ShakeOut day, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) on Oct 14–16 held its annual Great California ShakeOut tour to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento to provide earthquake preparedness tips. The tour also featured an earthquake simulation trailer that offered the public a real-life sense of what a big earthquake feels like.“California is no stranger to natural disasters, like earthquakes. That’s why it’s important we work with communities statewide to have the life-saving information they need to stay safe before the next seismic event,” said Nancy Ward, Cal OES director.
Cal OES Media Relations Representative Diana Ibrahim told The Epoch Times that for the MyShake App and Android Alerts, users will be notified of earthquakes magnitude 4.5 and above, whereas for the WEAs, users will be notified for earthquakes magnitude 5.0 and above.
The alert system does not predict earthquakes, but rather it automatically issues an alert quickly after a seismic event is detected and could give some residents advance warning, Scharer said.
Officials said that the purpose of the alert system is to provide up to a few seconds or sometimes even tens of seconds before the shaking hits, so people have time to drop, cover, and hold on until the shaking stops.
Lauduk Yvette from Cal OES said that how early the alert is sent depends on how far the person is from the epicenter. The further away, the more time recipients will have.
- Step 1: Secure your space by identifying hazards and securing moveable items.
- Step 2: Plan to be safe by creating your emergency plan and deciding how you will communicate.
- Step 3: Organize emergency supplies in convenient locations.
- Step 4: Minimize financial hardship by organizing important documents, strengthening your property, and considering insurance coverage.
