Sep 19, 2009 11:12 am US/Pacific
Calif. Urges Quake Readiness: Drop, Cover, Hold On
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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A statewide earthquake drill is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on October 15 -- 10/15 -- and is expected to be the largest in California history. (File)
AP
With 26 days to go, Californians are being asked to practice how to "drop, cover and hold on" for the state's
Great Shakeout Drill.
"You do need to practice, because you won't do it if you don't practice," Southern California Earthquake Center spokesman Mark Benthien said.
"Research shows more people are injured by falling objects in earthquakes than by building collapses, and if you drop, cover and hold on, you will protect yourself."
A statewide earthquake drill is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on October 15 -- 10/15 -- and is expected to be the largest in California history. That means it will have to top the 5,500,000 people who participated in last year's Great Shakeout, which was in southern California only.
Thousands of schools, public safety agencies, broadcasters and businesses across the state have already committed to stop everything at 10:15 a.m. on 10/15 and play as if a destructive earthquake has just hit.
At USC, thousands of people will take place in a mass casualty drill at the main campus and its Health Sciences Center. Last year's drill was so instructive to USC administrators that the private university purchased its own fire truck, the school reports.
Last year's drill was successful to the point of inspiring an annual, statewide event, scheduled for the third Thursday of every October, Benthien said.
USC has set up a public information page about California's Great ShakeOut at
www.shakeout.org.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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