ShakeOut Earthquake Drill Set For Thursday, International ShakeOut Day

Scientists and emergency managers have been busy reminding people that the “Big One,” a devastating earthquake that could occur at any moment on the San Andreas Fault in Southern California, is something everyone needs to prepare for.

In Pasadena, where taking part in preparedness exercises is strongly advised, these events include an online webinar on Wednesday hosted by the Pasadena Public Library, and a Citywide ShakeOut drill on Thursday, which is International ShakeOut Day.

Now, new research by a group monitoring the condition of the San Andreas Fault shows that one of its strands — the Mission Creek strand that runs from Indio through Desert Hot Springs and into the San Bernardino Mountains — is slipping at a faster rate than previously thought.

“Higher slip rates on faults mean more risk,” Morgan Page, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, said in the LAist report. “It means stress is accumulating faster on that fault and you would need basically either more earthquakes or larger earthquakes over centuries to relieve that stress.”

With this knowledge, Pasadena officials believe it has become even more imperative that residents focus more on learning how to prepare for the Big One.

“Earthquakes are unpredictable but we are well overdue for a large quake,” said Lisa Derderian, the city of Pasadena’s Public Information Officer and Emergency Manager. “We need to be prepared, not scared. Because earthquakes are not tangible and on our radar every day, we forget the vital need to be prepared. It’s the fear of the unknown with the timing so we need to make sure to build our disaster kits, make our communications and reunification plans and get trained.”

Derderian will lead the webinar on Wednesday, sponsored by the Pasadena Public Library. The webinar is from 5 to 6 p.m.

To join, sign up through this webpage, https://pasadena.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?eventid=4927, and a link to the webinar will be sent to your email.

Then on Thursday, people will actually practice how to survive an earthquake with “shake, rattle and roll,” the largest-ever earthquake drill, according to the organizers.

“Drop, Cover and Hold On when shaking starts,” Derderian said. “City employees will be participating in the Shakeout this Thursday and we encourage internal departments to practice their disaster plans, review our floor warden procedures, check personal and work supplies and go through various scenarios for communicating during and after the disaster.”

The Great California ShakeOut website says over two million people have already registered to join the ShakeOut on Thursday in Los Angeles County alone. Throughout California, it was 6.9 million people as of Tuesday afternoon.