The International Shake-Out is set for Thursday, October 18 and Americans are preparing for the 10:18am local time drill. Each year, millions of people “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in The Great ShakeOut, the world’s largest earthquake drill. People are encouraged to participate in the drill wherever they are since major earthquakes may happen anywhere people live, work, or travel. The purpose of the ShakeOut is to practice how to protect ourselves and for everyone to become better prepared. The goal of the drill is to prevent a major earthquake from becoming a catastrophe. Thousands of state and local organizations are participating in the drill ranging from state governments to local schools and hospitals.
The purpose of the drill is to remind people to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.” In an actual earthquake, you may only have seconds to protect yourself in an earthquake before strong shaking knocks you down, or something falls on you. Millions of people worldwide have participated in Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills since 2008. The Great ShakeOut is held on the third Thursday of October each year.
Over 19million people have registered their planned participation in the ShakeOut drill. Businesses, schools, and all other organizations are encouraged to register and participate. The ShakeOut website has a tremendous wealth of information and resources, such as easy-to-print PDF’s and posters, designed to increase safety around the threat of earthquakes.
On average, there are about 50 measurable earthquakes around the world every day. There are, however, millions of earthquakes estimated to occur every year that are too weak to be felt. While many think California is the most susceptible to earthquakes, earthquakes can be felt in every state in the United States and Hawaii by far has the most. In the last 30 days, Hawaii has had 353 earthquakes greater than 1.5; in the last year, the Aloha State has experienced 42,699. The most powerful earthquake to strike the U.S. struck Alaska in 1964; the 9.2 was the strongest quake to ever impact the continent too on record. A 7.7 quake in Missouri was also another top quake for the country; it created damage in a wide area of the eastern United States. Powerful earthquakes around the United States and beyond can also create a tsunami threat to both the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines.
