The Great ShakeOut drill helps prepare for disaster

The Great ShakeOut drill helps prepare for disaster
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FEMA, the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency are encouraging citizens to stay prepared during the annual Great Central U.S. ShakeOut earthquake drill.

                        

FEMA, the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency are encouraging citizens to stay prepared during the annual Great Central U.S. ShakeOut earthquake drill.

Held annually on the third Thursday in October, ShakeOut is set for Oct. 18 at 10:18 a.m. CUSEC said the earthquake drill can be scheduled for a date and time more suitable for schools and businesses, like fire drills.

“People may say, ‘Why do we need to practice earthquake drills in Ohio?’ We practice because Ohio does experience earthquakes,” Ohio EMA executive director Sima Merick said. “Ohio has had four low-scale earthquakes so far this year. It is also good to know earthquake safety in the event you’ve traveled to another state or country where quakes can occur with higher magnitude and frequency.”

The actual ShakeOut drill is only one minute long. But ShakeOut is more than an earthquake drill. ShakeOut is intended to get people to talk about emergency preparedness and to plan for all hazards and disasters such as earthquakes, floods, fires, tornadoes or hazmat incidents.

The safest response to an earthquake is as follows:

—Drop where you are onto your hands and knees. This position protects you from being knocked down and allows you to stay low and crawl to shelter if it’s nearby. If you have mobility issues, either lock the wheels of your wheelchair or stay seated and bend over.

—Cover your head and neck with one arm and hand. If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath it for shelter. If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall, away from windows.

—Hold on until the shaking stops. If you are under a table or desk for shelter, hold onto it with one hand and be ready to move with your shelter if it shifts.

There is still time to register to participate. Individuals, schools, businesses and organizations can register online at www.shakeout.org/centralus/. Earthquake-preparedness information and resources also are available on this site. If you registered last year, you need only confirm/update your information.

Additional earthquake-preparedness information also is available at www.ready.ohio.gov. Click on Earthquakes in the green menu bar.

To date, more than 2 million people have registered to participate in the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut.


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