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Quake readiness event set

Emergency preparedness officials are asking people to hit the ground to mentally and physically prepare themselves for an earthquake.

Emergency preparedness officials are asking people to hit the ground to mentally and physically prepare themselves for an earthquake.

Sybille Sanderson, acting general manager for public safety for the Regional District of Cowichan Valley, said The Great British Columbia Shake Out follows on the heels of the successful event in California.

“People are being asked to take part in a two-minute drill —Drop, Cover and Hold On.

“They are being asked to actually physically do that,” said Sanderson.

The reason people are asked to physically carry out the drill, said Sanderson, is because during emergency situations the physical memory works better than simply trying to remember the slogan.

“By physically, dropping down to the ground, getting under the desk, covering and holding on, you are actually giving your body that physical memory.”

The event, scheduled for Jan. 26 at 10 a.m., is set to take place on the 311th anniversary of the 9.0 Subduction quake in Alaska that was big enough to send tidal waves to Japan.

The Subduction fault line lies around 100 km off the coast of Vancouver Island and Sanderson said a massive earthquake is a matter of when, not if.

“We have a huge chance of getting a fairly significant earthquake happen to us.”

“Every time you see valleys and mountains, that’s an earthquake zone.”

We experience around 30 earthquakes a month, only they are too small to feel, said Sanderson.

For more information and to sign up, visit www.shakeoutbc.ca.





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