Southern California stages biggest U.S. quake drill

Source: Reuters

Southern Californians simultaneously dropped to the floor and huddled under tables and desks for two minutes of imagined seismic turmoil on Thursday in the biggest U.S. earthquake drill.

The Great Southern California ShakeOut was organized by scientists and emergency officials as part of a campaign to prepare the state’s 22 million inhabitants for a catastrophic quake that experts say is inevitable and long overdue.

The drill is based on the premise of a magnitude 7.8 quake striking the southern portion of the famed San Andreas Fault, a subterranean chasm between two massive plates of the Earth’s crust that extends hundreds of miles (km) across the state.

The hypothetical quake, similar in strength to the devastating tremor that hit China in May, also is the basis for this year’s annual Golden Guardian exercise — a days-long disaster simulation for emergency-response agencies statewide.

“This helps us hone our skills,” said Patricia Aidem, a spokeswoman for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles, whose trauma center is taking part in the larger mass-casualty drill.

“We live in earthquake country, so being prepared to help the public is just an amazing advantage for the community.”

Teaching people quake survival skills also “means fewer patients for us,” she added.

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