What Are You Doing at 10:19 a.m. Thursday? Millions in L.A. County Will Drop, Cover and Hold On

The Great California ShakeOut of 2023, a statewide earthquake preparedness drill, is scheduled for 10:19 a.m. Thursday. Millions of Southland residents will “drop, cover and hold on” as part of the International ShakeOut Day.

Government offices, businesses, and schools in Pasadena and throughout Los Angeles County will pause for a minute to participate in the drill, now in its 15th year.

According to ShakeOut.org, “What we do to prepare now, before the big earthquake, will determine how well we can survive and recover.” 

The annual drills provide opportunities for millions to learn and practice earthquake safety.

The ShakeOut website indicated that 8.8 million Californians are slated to participate in the drill — down from 9.2 million last year.

The exercises began in 2008.

In Los Angeles County, the number of registered participants for the 2023 ShakeOut is 3,134,586. This is slightly lower than the previous year’s figure of 3.2 million.

Multiple Pasadena City and Los Angeles City and County agencies are also signed up, including Metrolink and Metro, the Los Angeles police and fire departments, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Public Libraries and the city departments of Recreation and Parks, Housing, Aging and General Services.

Most Los Angeles area community colleges and universities will be participating including Caltech, Pasadena City College, Los Angeles Community College District, Santa Monica College, UCLA and USC.

A majority of the County’s kindergarten through 12th grade school districts, along with private and charter schools, will have students and staff participating.

According to ShakeOut.org, the objective is to emphasize precautions during a 7.8-magnitude or larger quake along the southernmost portion of the San Andreas fault.

Officials say that such a tectonic shift could produce waves of movement for hundreds of miles, over four minutes. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, some 2,000 people would die, tens of thousands would be injured and more than $200 billion in damage would result. The cataclysm would have 50 times the intensity of the Jan. 17, 1994, Northridge earthquake.

Hundreds of aftershocks would ensue — a few of them nearly as big as the original quake, according to the USGS.

The drill in 2019 came just over three months after the early July quakes that struck Ridgecrest. The 6.4- and 7.1-magnitude shakers caused significant damage to roads and structures in the hamlet, which lies just south of the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station.

Californians should be prepared to be self-sufficient for 72 hours following a major disaster. That includes having a first-aid kit, medications, food and enough water for each member of a household to drink one gallon per day, according to local and state officials.

Homeowners and renters should also know how to turn off the gas in their residences in case of leaks.