Duck, cover and hold is what students and faculty did, following proper safety guidance from prompts given at 10:20 a.m. Oct. 20 as part of a routine earthquake drill.
The drill was conducted as a part of a larger effort of California called “The Great ShakeOut.” The shakeout is a worldwide effort to get people prepared should an actual earthquake occur. Southern California’s business, governments and schools have been a part of the effort since 2008. Last year in 2021, according to the ShakeOut’s’ website about 30 million people participated.
The drill’s supporters also want to have the public aware that an actual earthquake can happen at any time without notice.
The drill’s supporters also stress that it is important to practice frequently as one only has sometimes seconds to respond to an earthquake, and a few seconds can be the real difference in surviving an actual earthquake.
At Citrus this year, that effort looked like a public service announcement being released on campus letting students know to drop under their desks, cover their necks, and then to grab the desk. Students were then to remain under the desks for at least a minute before getting up and following their teachers to a designated evacuation zone.
Participants then remained outside until given the all clear either by campus security or by a level representative.
Most students did not seem bothered by the drill and seemed comfortable out in the zones.
Other students who did not have official classes did not seem to even notice a drill was going on as they sat on benches around campus.
Student Bee Magallenes said she felt the drill was helpful for preparing if there was an actual earthquake that was to take place.
Ali Rojas, another student, said he felt the drill was good as well to prevent problems in the future if an earthquake were to happen.
A problem Magallenes found during the drill was that there were no teachers or staff posted at different entrances to the buildings. She said that this was a problem because she had seen students enter the buildings.
Outside of the drill itself, the Great ShakeOuts’ literature encourages being prepared in other ways for an earthquake by keeping emergency supplies stocked and also making sure that the supplies are functional and accessible in the event of an earthquake.
They also suggest asking a department to come out and inspect a property to find things that may fall. The ShakeOut then suggests securing these items.
They also encourage people to receive Community Emergency Response Team training. The ShakeOut’s literature suggests that people become familiar with the California Integrated Seismic Network’s software or at least become familiar with their website, www.cisn.org.
