Southern California stages biggest U.S. quake drill
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Friday, November 14, 2008
Millions of Southern Californians simultaneously dropped to the floor and huddled under tables and desks for two minutes of imagined seismic turmoil on Thursday.
The Great Southern California ShakeOut was organized by scientists and emergency officials as part of a campaign to prepare the region's 22 million inhabitants for a catastrophic quake that experts say is inevitable and long overdue.
The drill was 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 Golden Guardian exercise -- a days-long annual disaster simulation for emergency-response agencies statewide.
"This helps us hone our skills," said Patricia Aidem, a spokeswoman for Providence Holy Cross Medical Centre in suburban Los Angeles, whose trauma centre took part in a mass-casualty drill.
"We live in earthquake country, so being prepared to help the public is just an amazing advantage for the community."
Teaching quake survival skills to often-complacent Southern Californians also "means fewer patients for us," she added.
At the Nestle USA headquarters in Glendale, just north of Los Angeles, all 1,600 employees in the 21-floor office tower took part in the ShakeOut.