Millions of people will participate in the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills on Thursday, October 16. Several institutions in Cape Girardeau County are participating to the Great Central U.S. Shakeout scheduled for 10:16 a.m.
The event aims at preparing families and organizations to survive and recover from big earthquakes and practice how to “drop, cover and hold on” during such natural events. This protocol consists of dropping to the ground, taking cover by getting under a desk or table, and holding on until the earth stops shaking.
In the Cape Girardeau school district, all buildings will be taking part in the ShakeOut, according to Neil Glass, assistant superintendent for Cape Girardeau Public Schools. This will involve 4,000 students.
He said for the school district the event is an annual drill that allows them to teach students how to react to an earthquake and what the procedures to follow are after the fact.
To him, participating in a large coordinated event like this one is a good way to prepare for it as a team and keep earthquake preparedness and awareness in the forefront.
“It’s just important that we all address this as a community and we lean on each other’s resources and each other’s reactions and actions,” Glass said. “As something like this takes place we want to make sure we do what we can to do our part.”
In Cape Girardeau schools, the drill will include the evacuation of the buildings.
Jean Mason is the administrative assistant at Jackson Senior Center and explained that the exercise there will be a little different. A simple presentation will inform the older group at the center about what to do during an earthquake, rather than an actual exercise.
This will be the third time Jackson Senior Center will participate in the event and about 100 people will attend. Mason said their overall idea is to prepare people for the possibility of such a natural disaster.
“It’s to get them to think ahead of time. What do you do rather than hitting and thinking ‘well now what do I do?’” Mason said. “Just kind of having a mental preparedness, that’s the real essence of it.”
2.7 million participants registered on the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut websiteand over 25.7 million will participate worldwide.