The ShakeOut, Utah’s annual earthquake preparedness drill, is designed to educate residents about how to stay safe if the ground starts shaking.
“We do live in earthquake country – and it’s not a matter of if, but when," Wade Mathews, with Utah’s Division of Emergency Management, said.
He said it’s imperative people have some reflexes if and when tremors strike.
“What people do in a disaster isn’t panic, necessarily – it’s what we call ‘milling’ or ‘freezing.’ They just stop; they don’t take any action,” he said. “And that hesitation is what can cause injury and death. So just having people immediately think drop, cover and hold on, as soon as they feel the ground shaking, could be the difference between life and death, or life and injury.”
Across the state, close to a million people signed up for this year’s earthquake drill. Mathews said 90% of Utah’s population lives along the Wasatch Fault, which runs from southern Idaho to Nephi in central Utah – so most Utahns could be affected by a major quake.
“We know that there’s a 57% chance… of a major earthquake happening on the Wasatch Fault within the next 40 years,” he said. “That could happen in our lifetimes.”
In the meantime, he encourages Utahns to learn what they can to be ready for disaster. That starts with dropping to the ground quickly, moving under some cover like a table or desk, and holding on until the shaking stops.
More information about earthquake preparedness is available on the Great Utah ShakeOut website, as well as the state’s earthquake website.
And it’s not too late to participate in the ShakeOut. Mathews encourages everyone to participate in a drill if they haven’t yet done so.
