Dog shaking head
SHAKE series 2011 / Carli Davidson

2023 Great California ShakeOut

  • by William Burke

Tomorrow is the Great California ShakeOut Day!

The Great ShakeOut Day is an opportunity to participate in earthquake preparedness by reviewing life-saving actions like drop, cover, and hold on. You can educate your family and friends with this guidance from USGS about what action to take when an earthquake hits:  

If you are inside:  

  • Drop, cover, and hold on  
  • Stay clear of windows, fireplaces, and heavy objects (Kitchens are not safe)  
  • Don’t run outside while there is danger of falling and hurting yourself or being hit by falling glass or debris 

If you are outside: 

  • Find an open area, away from buildings, powerlines, and anything else that could potentially fall on you  

If you are driving: 

  • Stop, but carefully. More as far out of the way of traffic as possible 
  • Do not stop under a bridge or overpass, trees, light post, powerlines, or signs 
  • Stay inside your car until the shaking stops 

Be prepared by signing up for alerts! Here in California, you can sign up for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA: https://calalerts.org/signup.html). Alternatively, or in addition to, you can also download the MyShake app (available on both Apple Store and Google Play). These will both share an alert on your phone, similar to AMBER alerts, that provide limited, but potentially life-saving prior notification of an earthquake in your area before the shaking begins.

Instructional information provided by USGS

*Photo from Carli Davidson's 2011 SHAKE series