On October 20th at 10:20am, the Fernwood Community Centre staff and clients will be participating in the second Great British Columbia ShakeOut. This is a province wide event to educate the public, businesses, and organizations about how to prepare and protect themselves during an earthquake. The first ShakeOut was held earlier this year on January 26th and had over 470,000 people participate, making it the largest earthquake drill ever to take place in Canada. On October 20th, we will be practicing the internationally recognized “drop, cover, and hold on” protocol. This is a 3 step protocol and is recommended as the best action to protect oneself from injury and death during an earthquake. The 3 steps are:

  1. DROP to the floor
  2. Take COVER under sturdy shelter such as a desk or table
  3. HOLD on to your shelter until the earthquake stops

If you are not near shelter when an earthquake starts, the recommendation is to “cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of a building” (Drop!Cover!HoldOn!pdf). The most important point to remember when an earthquake happens is to protect yourself immediately in the best way possible wherever you are.

For more information, including how to register, please visit www.shakeout.org/.