The statewide drill occurred two days before the 20th anniversary of the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta Earthquake which killed 63 people throughout northern California, injured nearly 4,000 and left as many as 10,000 people homeless.
by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com
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Deadline Newsroom - More than 6.8 million people participated in the second Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill this morning, the largest earthquake drill ever.
The annual drill teaches Californians how to prepare for earthquakes; to practice how to protect against earthquake injury (drop, cover, and hold on); and to learn how to recover quickly by safeguarding property and finances in advance.
Last year, 5.4 million people participated in the Great Southern California ShakeOut.
The drill is now annual and statewide to improve preparedness and practice protective actions.
"The ShakeOut drill helps people and organizations practice how to be safe during earthquakes, and also to improve their preparedness," said Mark Benthien, executive director of the Earthquake Country Alliance and director for communications of the Southern California Earthquake Center.
The Earthquake Country Alliance, the coalition that has organized the drill, includes leaders in disaster response, science, business, media, education, government and local communities.
Major organizations represented include, the California Emergency Management Agency, Southern California Earthquake Center, United States Geological Survey, California Earthquake Authority, California Department of Education, American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, State Farm Insurance, Ready America, and many others.
It's not to late to get prepared for the Big One.
The Southern California Earthquake Center estimates that there is a 50 percent chance of a magnitude 7.5 or greater earthquake somewhere in California in the next 30 years.
The statewide drill occurred two days before the 20th anniversary of the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta Earthquake which killed 63 people throughout northern California, injured nearly 4,000 and left as many as 10,000 people homeless.
The Loma Prieta quake's epicenter was south of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County and was the first major earthquake in America to have its initial jolt broadcast live on television.
That's because the quake occurred during the warm up for the third game of the 1989 World Series, ironically featuring both of the Bay Area's Major League Baseball teams, the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.
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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.
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