Are You Ready to ShakeOut?

Major earthquakes can cause unprecedented catastrophes. With earthquakes as an inevitable part of our future, businesses should make plans and take actions to ensure that disasters do not become catastrophes. What we do now, will determine what our lives will be like afterwards. With this in mind, the Earthquake Country Alliance (www.earthquakecountry.org) created the Great California ShakeOut, an earthquake drill and preparedness activity in which everyone can participate, which has now spread to many other states and regions. To register as a participant for a ShakeOut drill in your area visit www.shakeout.org. Businesses of all sizes can also use the drill to get their employees, business partners, and even their clients and customers, involved and prepared for a big earthquake. Furthermore, the level of your staffs’ own personal and family preparedness will be key to their availability to support your company’s response and recovery efforts after a disaster.

Although they were created for ShakeOut drill events across the nation, the instructions on the following pages can be used or adapted for earthquake drills anywhere and anytime. The following drill guidelines are designed for businesses and their personnel and each drill uses the general earthquake response of Drop, Cover, and Hold On (www.dropcoverholdon.org) as its foundation. To be flexible, the following pages provide four options for drill designs ranging from simple (Level 1) to advanced (Level 4), each with steps to be taken before, during, and after the drill. Going forward, your company can customize and build a drill that suits your specific needs.

Check out the full Drill Manual!