October 15, 2009
Nearly 580,000 San Diego County residents took part in the Great California ShakeOut drill activities taking place around the region. Statewide, nearly 7 million people including individuals, families, schools, universities, businesses, museums, local governments and faith-based and community organizations, registered to join the earthquake drill at 10:15 a.m.
“We are extremely pleased that more people are getting involved and practicing the correct actions to take during an earthquake. Our ultimate goal is for people’s response to become automatic so that injuries and deaths can be minimized in a real earthquake,” said Ron Lane, director of the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.
Hundreds of museums patrons and employees participated in a drop, cover and hold on drill – ducking under tables or moving to an interior wall and protecting their heads until the audio broadcast was over in Balboa Park. Five minutes later, all the facilities in the park were evacuated as they would be in a real emergency. After all museum staff reported that the facilities had been cleared, all were allowed to return. ShakeOut earthquake preparedness fliers and information was made available to patrons at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Last year, 5.4 million people including 470,000 San Diego County residents, participated in the Great Southern California ShakeOut. The drill is now statewide, giving all Californians the opportunity to learn about preparedness and safety during an earthquake, whether you are at home, work or school. Next year’s drill will take place at 10:21 a.m. on 10/21.
Individuals, families, schools, businesses, government agencies and organizations are encouraged to share drill experiences and photographs at www.shakeout.org. For disaster preparedness information, please visit www.ReadySanDiego.org.
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