Emergency officials take simulated earthquake tool on tour ahead of Great CA ShakeOut
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Great California ShakeOut is just one week away on Oct. 20.
Before that happens, the California Office of Emergency Services is taking a tour of six cities across the state to help people get prepared for earthquakes.
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Garry Wyndham has lived through his fair share of earthquakes in California.
"It was more magnitude than I was ready for but it was kind of fun too," said Wyndham, a Palo Alto resident.
But Thursday, he got to feel the strength of 7.0 quake in an earthquake simulator from Cal OES.
"We've had a number of big quakes in the last century. We had kind of a gap recently in big quakes in the heavily urbanized areas of the state, but we know that that is an eventuality," said Larry Collins, a deputy fire chief for Cal OES Fire and Rescue.
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That's why Cal OES is now taking this tool on tour, reminding folks of the three things you should do when you feel an earthquake: Stop, cover and hold on.
"If you happen to be in a building that does fail, getting under something heavy, drop cover and hold on also helps to ensure that you're going to end up in a survivable void space if there is a failure of the building you're in," Collins said.
Collins says taking these steps means firefighters can find you hours, or even days later, alive in a survivable void space.
"People have lived up to 16 days in collapsed buildings and been pulled out alive," he said.
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"We're hoping to encourage Californians to take all of the methods possible to be prepared for earthquakes because all you have is seconds," said Yvonne Dorantes, a senior emergency services coordinator of Cal OES.
Keep in mind, this tour comes just a week before the Great California ShakeOut, a statewide earthquake drill.
"On Oct. 20 at 10:20 a.m., all the individuals that have registered for the Great California drill online will receive a notification that's a test notification and in that moment, all individuals will participate in the drill and drop, cover and hold on," Dorantes said.
If you'd like to register to participate in the Great California ShakeOut for Oct. 20, click here.
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