World’s largest earthquake drill set

Over 2 million residents in the Central U.S. are planning to prepare for earthquakes on Oct. 18.

Over 2 million residents in the Central U.S. are planning to prepare for earthquakes by participating in the Great Shakeout Earthquake Drill that will be held at 10:18 a.m., Oct. 18.

The Great Shakeout is the world’s largest earthquake drill, and it takes place annually on the third Thursday of October.

The drill itself only lasts a minute, and can be done anywhere, according to the news release from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. The drill involves practicing the safest response to an earthquake, which is drop, cover and hold on.

The instructions provided by Ohio EMA include:

Drop where you are, onto your hands and knees. This position protects you from being knocked down and allows you to stay low and crawl to shelter if it’s nearby. If you have mobility issues, either lock the wheels of your wheelchair or stay seated, and bend over.

Cover your head and neck with one arm and hand. If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath it for shelter. If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall, away from windows.

Hold on until the shaking stops. If you are under a table or desk for shelter, hold onto it with one hand and be ready to move with your shelter if it shifts.

“People may say ‘why do we need to practice earthquake drills in Ohio?’ ” Ohio EMA Executive Director Sima Merick said in the release. “We practice because Ohio does experience earthquakes.”

According to Kelli Blackwell, publications editor for the Ohio EMA, the state has experienced four low-scale earthquakes so far this year, two of which have been in Northeastern Ohio.

A 2.0 earthquake occurred in Geauga County on Sept. 4, while a 2.2 earthquake took place in Lake County on July 31.

The other two earthquakes happened in Washington County, Marietta; a 2.5 earthquake on March 25, and a 2.6 earthquake on Jan. 26.

There was also a 2.4 earthquake on March 25, in Alexandria Kentucky that was felt in Ohio.

While Ohio is not located on a fault line, last year the state experienced earthquakes with magnitudes as high as 3.8, according to Blackwell.

“We do not have massive ones like you do on the West Coast but we do have them,” Blackwell said. “You may feel nauseous or notice a clock on the wall is moving during an earthquake.”

Blackwell also notes that while Ohio may only experience low grade earthquakes, there are people who travel to other parts of the world that may have significant earthquakes and they need to know how to prepare and to practice.

Participation in the Shakeout is also an opportunity to get people taking about emergency preparedness and how to deal with other hazards they may face, such as tornadoes, floods and winter safety, Blackwell said.

For individuals, schools and businesses interested in participating in the Great Shake Out, registration is still open at www.shakeout.org/ centralus. Additional earthquake preparedness information and resources are available at this site and also at www.ready. ohio.gov.