Annual ShakeOut drill to be held today
On Oct. 16 at 10:16 a.m., millions of people in California are expected to participate in an annual earthquake drill called the 2014 Great California ShakeOut.
Shake it off · Jason Ballman, communications specialist at the Southern California Earthquake Center, poses in front of the center. The SCEC aims to expand the ShakeOut region to Texas and Nebraska by next year. – Michelle Wolzinger | Daily Trojan
The ShakeOut takes place a day before the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, a 6.9 magnitude quake that hit the Bay Area in 1989.
USC started doing the Trojan ShakeOut in 2008, which was also the first year Southern California started participating in the Great California ShakeOut. USC was among the first universities to participate. The program has since grown beyond California to countries around the world.
The Trojan ShakeOut Drill will be led by the Southern California Earthquake Center, which is headquartered at USC. This drill is meant to promote awareness about what is safe to do before, during and after an earthquake.
All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to practice “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” for one minute in all buildings on campus and then wait for a minute as if prepping for an aftershock. In addition to the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” drill, the response capabilities of all departments and schools will be tested. The Trojan ShakeOut Ambassadors, a team of students publicizing the ShakeOut, are sharing earthquake preparation tips and facilitating the drill in all campus buildings.
“Earthquakes are a natural disaster that can occur here in Southern California, and [the ShakeOut] is a great way to educate and remind people who live here what to do when an earthquake occurs,” said Steve Goldfarb, fire safety and emergency planning specialist at the USC Office of Fire Safety and Emergency Planning.
Goldfarb said that USC has taken extensive measures to prepare for all types of emergencies and disasters. Highlights include plans for disaster medical response.
The campus emergency response team consists of about 325 staff and faculty members who are trained for search and rescue, fire suppression and other emergency response skills. USC has emergency food supplies, water filtration systems, satellite communication and amateur radio capabilities. There are also teams that do post-earthquake building damage assessment.
Jason Ballman, communications specialist at SCEC, said that the expansion of the Great California ShakeOut program, is an ongoing effort. The SCEC works with regional coordinators, attempting to expand to different earthquake-prone areas of the United States and other countries around the world. Ballman said that for next year, they are trying to gain official ShakeOut regions in Texas and Nebraska.
“Here at USC, we’re smack dab in the middle of earthquake country near a fault that could produce the most damaging earthquake in Southern California,” Ballman said. “People need to know how to protect themselves during an earthquake, as well as secure their space and prepare before.”