The great California shake-out

Citation

(2010), "The great California shake-out", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 19 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2010.07319aab.004

The great California shake-out

Article Type: News items From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 19, Issue 1

In November 2008, more than five million Southern Californians participated in what has been called the largest-ever social experiment in earthquake preparedness.

The Great Southern California ShakeOut was such a success in creating a sense of urgency toward community and individual earthquake preparedness that one year later, in October 2009, another exercise will take place. This time, it will involve the entire state. A panel comprised of four ShakeOut steering committee members and moderated by David Applegate of the US Geological Survey explained the successes of the 2008 exercise and laid out goals for the 2009 drill at a plenary session during the 34th Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop.

The 2008 ShakeOut, which involved 5.47 million people from schools, businesses, communities, and governments, was a “success in terms of the sheer numbers involved, communities involved, and changes that are taking place as a result”, Applegate said. The ShakeOut included a broad-based outreach program, media partnerships, and public advocacy by hundreds of partners. ShakeOut organizers encouraged Southern Californians to “drop, cover, and hold on” – wherever they were – and practice what to do when the big one hits. English and Spanish Web sites, blogs, booklets, presentations, workbooks, community meetings, sample plans, an interactive game, and countless other resources were all part of the exercise.

“The southern part of the San Andreas Fault averages a big earthquake every 150 years and it’s been 300 years since the last one”, says Lucy Jones, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey’s Multi-Hazard Demonstration Project. Jones said that the idea of “drop, cover, and hold on” is being stressed throughout this exercise because there is evidence that many California adults did not know what to do when an earthquake hits.

A survey after the 2008 exercise found that 97 percent of participants would participate in a drill every year. The statewide Great California ShakeOut will now be held on the third Thursday of October each year, with the 2009 exercise taking place at 10:15 a.m. on October 15. The ShakeOut program has a goal of involving 10 million people in 2009. Nearly three million people had already signed up. “This is meant to inspire Californians to get ready for big earthquakes”, said Mark Benthien, director for communication, education, and outreach for the Southern California Earthquake Center, which is headquartered at the University of Southern California.

One concern expressed by panelists and audience members alike was that this huge social experiment did not include a comprehensive evaluation. Measuring the success and impact of the program would prove valuable information, Benthien said.

“To have an effort like this and not have it evaluated is the social science equivalent of a major crime”, Kathleen Tierney, director of the Natural Hazards Center, told the panel.

Other information about the 2009 ShakeOut can be found on the program’s Web site: www.shakeout.org

(Abstracted from Natural Hazards Observer, September 2009)