The Great ShakeOut is a national earthquake-preparedness event held each October to promote earthquake awareness and planning, and to promote the proper safety response in a quake: drop, cover, and hold on!

Great ShakeOut 2017 on the University of Oregon Campus

It's now common knowledge: the Pacific Northwest sits above the Cascadia Subduction Zone and is at risk for catastrophic earthquake, coastal tsunami, and also periodic less severe quakes. When these disasters hit is unknown – but scientists agree the time for "the big one" is long overdue.  

That's why preparedness is so important: science and technology, like the early warning ShakeAlert project UO is a part of, can only buy so much time.

The Great ShakeOut, a nationwide earthquake preparedness drill Oct. 19 at 10:19 a.m., will let the UO community practice three simple actions that can save lives when the ground starts moving: “drop, cover, and hold on!”

The UO's Department of Earth Sciences and Safety and Risk Services will team for a series of awareness activities to better prepare Ducks:

• At 10:19 a.m. a UO Alert message to campus will signal a "drop, cover, hold on!" drill to get people practicing and thinking about their surroundings, and the sturdy tables or other resources they might use to protect themselves from falling debris, to stay secure until shaking stops.
• Local agencies and vendors share tips and tools like solar panels, disaster-ready meals, and planning kits, livened up with prizes and games, in the EMU Amphitheater from 10:30 a.m.-noon.
• The "Big One," and how the UO is helping to develop an early-warning system: a presentation on earthquake hazards in the state by UO Earth Sciences faculty, from noon-1 p.m. in the EMU Room 023.
• Free First Aid and CPR refresher training offered by PE and Rec staff in McArthur Court from 1 p.m.-2 p.m.

For more tips and training on emergency preparation and response, for individuals and UO departments, visit Emergency Management and Continuity.