America prepares for the Big One with annual earthquake drill exercise

Annual drill hopes to prepare the country for a catastrophic tremor

America prepares for the Big One with annual earthquake drill exercise

Catastrophe & Flood

By Lyle Adriano

People from all across the country participated in yesterday’s annual Great ShakeOut earthquake drill – now in its ninth year.

As of October 19, over 55.8 million participants had registered for the Great ShakeOut across the world, with more than 18.7 million of those participants in America. Of that number, 10.5 million were from California.

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The event was originally held in the Los Angeles area, organized by scientists and emergency officials as a way to prepare residents for a major earthquake. It has since expanded to include more states, as well as other countries such as Canada and Japan.

Participants register online at the event’s official website to receive instructions on how to conduct their own drills and act in the event of an actual tremor. The event’s organizers also encourage registrants to get their communities involved with the drills, as well as to update their emergency plans and supplies.

Ken Kondo, a spokesman for Los Angeles County’s emergency management office, told AOL that the earthquake drills are especially important for regions such as Southern California where the risk is so high, that “it’s not a matter of if but when that catastrophic earthquake will strike.”


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