In Case of Emergency, Read This Blog

In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

Citizens To Play A Role In Largest Earthquake Drill In U.S. History

June 9th, 2008 · 1 Comment

I wanted to bring your attention to an important earthquake preparedness event that readers in California may already have heard about — The Great Southern California ShakeOut – occurring this November. According to their website, www.shakeout.org:  

The Great Southern California ShakeOut is a week of special events featuring the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history, organized to inspire Southern Californians to get ready for big earthquakes, and to prevent disasters from becoming catastrophes.

At 10 a.m. on November 13, 2008, millions of southern Californians will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.” Why? An enormous earthquake is our future, and the ShakeOut Drill is our chance to practice what to do when it happens. Individuals, families, businesses, schools and organizations will join firefighters, police officers, and other emergency responders (involved in the statewide “Golden Guardian” exercise) in our largest-ever earthquake preparedness activity. Don’t miss out!

The Shakeout will use a hypothetical 7.8 earthquake scenario recently developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey. It was described in an article in Science Daily: 

In the Scenario, the earthquake would kill 1800 people, injure 50,000, cause $200 billion in damage, and have long-lasting social and economic consequences. This is the most comprehensive analysis ever of what a major Southern California earthquake would mean.

As someone who has advocated for more extensive civilian emergency drills, I think the public’s involvement in this large-scale Shakeout event is a very promising development not only in increasing the preparedness of Southern Californians but also in providing a civilian drilling model for other parts of the country to follow. 

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Tags: Earthquake Preparedness

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Adam Cooper // Jun 5, 2010 at 3:10 pm

    Great Info. Thanks.

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