At 10:17 a.m. tomorrow more than 2.1 million people (including more than 347,000 school children in K-12th grade) have pledged to participate in the Great Southeast Shakeout, the world’s largest earthquake drill.
Any individual, family, organization, school, agency or businesses can register for the event. However, if you or your group haven’t registered you can still practice the ‘Drop, Cover, and Hold On’ drill, the recommended action for people to take during an earthquake.
- DROP – Get down on the floor when shaking starts before the quake drops you.
- COVER - Take cover under a sturdy desk, table or other furniture. If you cannot find something to get under, crouch against an inside wall. Keep your head and neck safe by covering them with your arms. Stay away from windows, hanging objects, mirrors or anything that might fall.
- HOLD ON – Hold on to a desk, table or piece of furniture. Be ready to move with it during the quake.
These simple steps allow you to get down before you’re thrown to the ground, provide protection from falling or flying items, and increase your chances of surviving a building collapse. If you are trapped, stay calm and tap on hard or metal parts of the structure to try and attract attention.
By identifying places to shelter safely in your home or workplace and by practicing going to those places, you increase your likelihood of surviving an earthquake.
Visit https://www.shakeout.org/southeast/register/ where you can register, find fact sheets, drill manuals, drill broadcast recordings, flyers, videos and other materials that make it easy for your group to participate in the drill and be prepared.
You can find a lot of useful information on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website about what you should do before, during and after an earthquake at: https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/earthquakes/index.html
For those with impaired mobility more information can be found on the CDC website and at https://www.earthquakecountry.org/disability/