GREAT SHAKEOUT EARTHQUAKE DRILLS

Be sure to register your education agency for its planned participation in ShakeOut. As a registered ShakeOut participant, you will:

• Receive email updates;
• Learn what you can do to get prepared;
• Receive ShakeOut news and other earthquake information;
• Be counted in the largest earthquake drill ever; and
• Set an example that motivates others to participate.

Schedule your ShakeOut drills and plan your other earthquake preparedness activities ahead of the ShakeOut date. ShakeOut offers resources for K-12 Schools Drill Planning, Education, and Preparedness and Higher Education Registration Guidelines and Participation. A ShakeOut Drill Broadcast, which contains audio and video recordings with instructions and earthquake sound effects to play during your drill, is also provided. The REMS TA Center Tool Box contains drill evaluation forms and other materials created and used by your peers. Use our new search feature and type in “earthquake” or “drill.”

ShakeOut offers resources on messaging to help your education agency promote awareness and participation in ShakeOut and encourage preparedness via news media, social media, and other outreach activities. You can use ShakeOut’s custom flyer for K-12 schools and school districts or colleges and universities, along with their Web and social banners, to spread the word to your community to learn more about the event and how to get involved.

Ensure that your school/campus community knows what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. Train students, staff, and visitors on “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in order to help reduce injury and death during earthquakes. Emergency preparedness experts recommend this action as the best way to protect yourself during an earthquake.

It is also important to train individuals with access/functional needs, such as those that use a wheelchair, on how to adapt “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.”

Make sure that your locality, leadership, and whole campus community knows that you participated in ShakeOut to enhance your earthquake preparedness. On social media, please use #ShakeOut and tag the following accounts:

• X: @remstacenter and @ShakeOut
• Facebook: @GreatShakeOut
• Instagram: @greatshakeout

You are also invited to share strategies and lessons learned with your peers via the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills forum on the REMS TA Center Community of Practice Website.

Major active faults exist throughout the United States, including in the eastern part of the country. Planning teams need to understand all hazards to which their education agency may be vulnerable. Gather information about earthquakes in your locality using one of the following data sources:

• U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Information by Region: Select your state/territory and investigate the information provided under each link for your area.
• FEMA’s Earthquake Hazard Maps: Click on your region to display the likelihood of experiencing earthquake shaking.

Comprehensive EOPs should contain an Earthquake Annex if your education agency is vulnerable to this natural hazard. The REMS TA Center created the Earthquake Sample Annex: A Fictional Example Before, During, and After an Earthquake to help schools understand what the structure and content of an annex may include. Ultimately, planning teams should develop their own custom EOPs as they work through the six-step planning process with community partners. Find guidance, tools, and information on EOP development and planning process and earthquakes in the Topic-Specific Resources section of the REMS TA Center Website.

When practicing the Earthquake Annex, education agencies should include their community partners, such as local emergency management staff and first responders who would play a role in an earthquake emergency. Involvement of key community stakeholders is central to success in developing and implementing a comprehensive EOP. Education agencies should coordinate with community partners in the development and implementation of drills and exercises and provide information to staff, students, and families about drills and exercises that will be conducted. The REMS TA Center created a fact sheet on collaboration and community partnerships to help schools strengthen partnerships for effective EOP development. Find resources, tools, and information on whole community planning in the Topic-Specific Resources section of the REMS TA Center Website.

By practicing the plan via drills, education agencies and their community partners can act more effectively during a real emergency event. Education agency emergency management planning teams can also identify gaps and weaknesses in the Earthquake Annex to strengthen it accordingly.

Information captured during the drill can then be analyzed and used to inform future training, exercising, and EOP revision efforts. You may find documentation/observation forms from the REMS TA Center Tool Box. Use our new search feature and type in “earthquake” or “drill.”

Education agencies can document the results, shortfalls, and lessons learned in an after-action report, which serves as a wealth of information and can be used to revise the Earthquake Annex. Additionally, this document can serve as proof that the education agency is being active in enhancing the preparedness capacity of the whole campus community. Read more information in the fact sheet After-Action Reports: Capturing Lessons Learned and Identifying Areas for Improvement. Download after-action report examples and resources from the REMS TA Center Tool Box or submit your tools to share with your peers.

Planning teams should update their EOPs on at least an annual basis. The moment after a drill has taken place can be a great time to at least update the annex that was practiced, if not the entire EOP. Other opportunities for EOP revision include the generation of new information from ongoing assessments; actual emergencies; and changes in policy, personnel, organizational structures, processes, facilities, or equipment.

Watch the archived Webinar Integrating Earthquakes Into School Emergency Operations Plans to learn about how to lessen the potential impact of an earthquake, encourage personal preparedness at home, and identify resource needs. You may request to host the Earthquake Preparedness for Schools Live and Virtual Trainings on our Website. These synchronous trainings provide information on planning for earthquakes in the school setting.

Use the REMS TA Center’s free mobile application, SITE ASSESS, to examine the safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness of your education agency’s buildings and grounds. This activity documents the condition of both buildings and grounds before an emergency event occurs, which can help education agencies obtain reimbursement for damages incurred from earthquakes and other emergency events. Once areas of improvement are identified, education agencies can retrofit their facilities and engage in mitigation using resources listed in the REMS TA Center’s K-12 Site Assessment Resources and Institution of Higher Education (IHE) Site Assessment Resources.

Educators can integrate earthquake preparedness and earthquake science lesson plans into classroom curricula. FEMA developed Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP) for grades 4–5 that contain a lesson on earthquakes as well as earthquake safety activities for other age groups. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a storybook Ready Wrigley Prepares for Earthquakes. Education agencies can also establish teen and campus Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs to engage students and enhance youth and individual preparedness. These materials and programs directly connect to science, technology, engineering, and math and career and technical education initiatives. Also, educators can use their substitute plans as a foundation for their continuity of learning and teaching and planning. By creating a unit plan with a few lesson plans that complement and supplement the existing curriculum, educators can be prepared for 5–10 school days.

• Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills: Drill Guidance for Grades K-4 (Distance Learning or In-Person)
  Southern California Earthquake Center
• Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills: Drill Guidance for Grades 5-12 (Distance Learning or In-Person)
  Southern California Earthquake Center

• Earthquake Sample Annex: A Fictional Example for Schools Before, During, and After an Earthquake
  REMS TA Center
• ShakeOut K-12 Schools and Districts Resources
  Southern California Earthquake Center

• Earthquake Preparedness for K-12 Schools and School Districts Online Course
  REMS TA Center
• Earthquake Preparedness for Schools Live and Virtual Trainings by Request
  REMS TA Center
• Integrating Earthquakes Into School Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) Webinar
  REMS TA Center

• Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills: Drill Guidance for Higher Education (Distance Learning or In-Person)
  Southern California Earthquake Center
• Campus Resilience Program Exercise Starter Kit: Earthquake
  U.S. Department of Homeland Security

• ShakeOut College and University Guidelines and Resources
  Southern California Earthquake Center