Great Bay Area Shakeout - October 17, 10:17 am (10/1, 10:17)

October 4, 2019
Alicia D. Johnson, MPA

Each year more than 25 million people participate in Great ShakeOut earthquake drills worldwide, including our campus community here at UC Berkeley. Because the Bay Area is prone to earthquakes, it is vital that our campus community know how to protect themselves and others during earthquakes. We know that many of our out-of-state and international students and colleagues have never experienced an earthquake, which is why we are asking you to join us for the 2019 Great Bay Area ShakeOut.

What To Do
Join your peers on October 17, 2019 at 10:17a.m. to practice "Drop, Cover, and Hold On” (and other aspects of your emergency plans):

While your building may participate in the Great ShakeOut in a number of ways, we suggest either:

1. Participate in the drill only (Drop, Cover, Hold On):

    1. DROP to the ground,

    2. COVER your head and neck with your arms and seek additional shelter by getting under a sturdy desk or table if nearby; and

    3. HOLD ON to your shelter and be prepared to move with it until the shaking stops (hold for 1 minute, the average time for a moderate to large earthquake).

and/or:

2. Participate in the drill and, after the pretend shaking has stopped (60 seconds), evacuate to your building’s Emergency Assembly Area (EAA), then debrief with your group on lessons learned.

Increase participation and effectiveness with the links below. You can play the “ShakeOut” 60 second mp3 on your device, display posters, and complete a post drill evaluation.

We encourage all students, staff and faculty to join the 2019 ShakeOut drill so that we all are better prepared when the  “big one” strikes. For ease of memory, drills should be held at 10:17 a.m. on October 17. A ShakeOut instructional guide and four-slide PowerPoint presentation for use by instructors in classes and laboratories are available www.ShakeOut.org/colleges.

Departments may also choose to practice in other emergency response activities. For preparedness information and resources specific to UC Berkeley, visit: https://oem.berkeley.edu/get-prepared.

Thank you for helping us keep our community prepared and safe by encouraging participation in the Great Bay Area ShakeOut earthquake drill (www.shakeout.org/bayarea) on October 17, 2019.