Drop, Cover and Hold: Know how to protect yourself in an earthquake? A drill is coming
If you noticed the ground shaking last month or earlier this month, or remember the big earthquakes last year, you may want to practice how to stay safe when they occur.
On Thursday, the Idaho Office of Emergency Management will hold a statewide earthquake drill to encourage the public to practice what to do during seismic activity.
Called the Great Idaho ShakeOut, the drill will be held at 10:21 a.m., and 50,000 Idahoans are expected to participate. Similar drills will be held on the same day nationwide and around the world, with over 30.5 million people registered to participate worldwide.
During an earthquake, “Drop, Cover and Hold” is the guidance considered by emergency management experts to provide the best method for reducing the likelihood of injury or death.
“In an actual earthquake, you may only have seconds to protect yourself before strong shaking knocks you down, or something falls on you,” said a release from the emergency management office.
Earthquakes can become violent very quickly, meaning that it’s important to take action after the first jolt, rather than waiting to see how strong it is, experts say.
According to the Southern California Earthquake Center, if the ground begins to shake, people should, in most situations, immediately drop to their hands and knees, cover their head and neck, and crawl under a sturdy table or desk. Hold on to the table if you can, and be ready for it to move. (If no such table is near, go to an interior wall away from any windows.)
If you are disabled or otherwise unable to get on your knees, experts recommend protecting yourself from a seated position. If you use a walker or wheelchair, lock the wheels, bend over, and protect your head and neck with an arm or an object — like a book, pillow or laptop.
Recent Idaho quakes
Idaho has a lot of seismic activity.
Early on Wednesday morning, a magnitude 3.1 earthquake rumbled a few miles west of Stanley, according to the United States Geological Survey.
On Oct. 2, a quake of magnitude 4.0 struck near Stanley shortly before 6 p.m. Two weeks earlier, another 4.0 quake hit near the town of 69 year-round residents. The quakes were both followed by aftershocks, and both occurred near the Sawtooth Fault, which was discovered a decade ago.
In 2020, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake — the second strongest ever recorded in the state — was centered in the same area of Central Idaho but shook Boise.
In 2017, a magnitude 5.3 quake struck east of Soda Springs, in southeastern Idaho.
Since the Richter scale, which measures earthquake intensity, is calculated on a logarithmic basis, larger-magnitude earthquakes are much stronger than smaller ones.
