On Thursday at precisely 10:18 a.m., there will be an earthquake.
Are you ready to "drop, cover and hold"?
The "earthquake" is really a simulation known as The Great British Columbia ShakeOut, when businesses, families, schools and cities are encouraged to participate in the province-wide earthquake-preparedness drill designed to test whether you're prepared for The Big One.
Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody staff are all participating in the drill at their respective city halls and other municipal facilities. School District 43's board office and several elementary and middle schools are also participating.
"It's an excellent opportunity to put it in the forefront of your mind," said Greg Kanya, Coquitlam's emergency program manager. "It makes you think about personal preparedness as well as your family's preparedness.
"You won't have the opportunity necessarily to be at home with your family [during an earthquake]... but with just a little bit of preparation, everyone will be much better off."
There are about 5,000 earthquakes in Canada every year, most of them in B.C. Most are small but at least nine quakes in or near Canada in the past century have registered a magnitude of seven or higher on the Richter scale.
Anything above a magnitude of six could do extensive damage to the Tri-Cities, making preparation one of the most important tools for the cities.
The cities' emergency program staff are reminding colleagues throughout the week of the upcoming drill and will alert them at 10:18 a.m. either through the telephone system, email or intercom, or a combination of all three. The ShakeOut website also offers a 60-second recording of earthquake sounds to play for added effect.
Cecil Unrau, PoMo's emergency program manager, said he'll be looking for feedback from a staff survey to see how prepared people felt.
"Our city is only as good as our staff," Unrau said. "If people aren't prepared at home, how can they be expected to come in and help the city in the off chance of a crisis?"
PoCo's emergency program officer, Tara Stroup, is also focusing on ensuring city staff are prepared at home so that they can come to work and help residents through the aftermath of an earthquake.
"This is a really good exercise for us to highlight that for our staff: 'Have you got the 72-hour kit? What do you have in your kit?'" she said. "We're just seeing what the level of response is and working from there."
Everyone can participate in the ShakeOut drill on Thursday at 10:18 a.m., when it's time to "drop to the ground, take cover under a table or desk and hold on it" for at least 60 seconds, according to the ShakeOut website.
While you're under cover, look around and imagine what would happen in a major earthquake by checking for items that could fall on yourself or others, what would be damaged and how you would recover after the event.
For a full list of resources on earthquake preparedness and the upcoming drill, visit www.shakeoutbc.ca.
