During our time living in southern California, I managed to sleep through the only earthquake that occurred during our 18 months there (it was VERY minor, and I had a baby that wasn’t yet sleeping through the night). But the threat of a serious earthquake in that part of the country is very real.
In recognition of that fact, a consortium of government and private interests (USGS, Southern California Earthquake Center at USC, NSF, Home Depot and State Farm, among others) have collaborated to prepare the largest earthquake drill ever. At 10:00am on November 13, 2008, everyone registered will “drop, cover and hold on.” 4.6 million people are registered as of today.
In addition to encouraging the public to think through their emergency preparedness and plans before the event, there will be a “Get Ready Rally” on November 14, to assess the event and promote planning. (This being California, there will also be live entertainment.) What fascinates me about this event is the multiple parties involved. The Art Center College of Design provided design services for many of the flyers and websites, as well as creating an Earthquake Recovery Game that will be an integral part of the exercise; everyone from scouting groups to neighborhood associations to government entities are registering and helping to register people; and the after-event is open to all. If the planners can, in fact, co-ordinate this diverse group of interests, they will have provided a great benefit.