{"id":23330,"date":"2012-10-18T20:15:37","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T03:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=23330"},"modified":"2012-10-18T21:48:36","modified_gmt":"2012-10-19T04:48:36","slug":"great-california-shakeout-did-you-take-part","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2012\/10\/18\/great-california-shakeout-did-you-take-part\/","title":{"rendered":"Great California ShakeOut: Did you take part?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Palmdale’s Community Safety Supervisor Kelly Long took park in the Great California Shakeout Thursday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALMDALE \u2013 The city of Palmdale\u2019s employees joined millions of people around California Thursday morning in the Great California ShakeOut \u2013 the largest earthquake preparedness drill in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

At 10:18 a.m., workers hit the ground, got underneath the nearest desk or table, and held on tight for 60 seconds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ambrose coordinated the earthquake drill at Palmdale’s Public Safety Department.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was to help people understand the best things to do to protect themselves if we do experience an earthquake, so that they don\u2019t get injured by falling debris or things toppling around them,\u201d said Palmdale\u2019s Public Safety and Community Relations Director Anne Ambrose. \u201cIt\u2019s basically three simple steps: Dropping to the ground, covering your head and getting under something protective, like a table or a desk, and holding on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In California, more than 9.9 million people in homes, schools, workplaces and other organizations took part in the earthquake safety drill.<\/p>\n

Several earthquake-prone states, United States territories and countries, such as Italy and Canada, also took part in Thursday\u2019s Shakeout, according to data on the Shakeout website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt only took a few minutes, and it\u2019s very simple information, but if we don\u2019t practice it and don\u2019t think about it, when the time comes we may not be as prepared,\u201d Ambrose said.<\/p>\n

California is widely known as \u201cearthquake country,\u201d and experiences earthquakes as large as the 1994 Northridge or 1989 Loma Prieta quakes (or larger) twice each decade, on average.<\/p>\n

There is a 50% chance of a magnitude 7.5 or greater earthquake somewhere in California in the next 30 years (www.scec.org\/ucerf<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Palmdale Crime Prevention officer Ruth Oschmann also took park in the drill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While some areas and certain faults have a higher chance of earthquakes than others, the risk anywhere in California is high when compared to most areas of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are small steps that we can all take to increase our preparedness and our resiliency to survive a disaster,\u201d Ambrose said. \u201cThe more small steps that we can take with our families and our coworkers, the better we as a community will be able to ride out whatever kind of disaster comes to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you did not take part in the Great California Shakeout Thursday, you can still practice the drill at home. Practice by viewing the video below, or read a complete guide on earthquake safety actions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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