FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Memphis, TN –As part of the third annual Great Central U.S. ShakeOut earthquake drill, coordinated by the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), all radio and television stations are invited and urged to interrupt broadcasting at (or near) 10:15 a.m. on February 7th to broadcast a one-minute earthquake drill announcement. The drill broadcast has sound effects and instructions on what to do to during an actual earthquake. As an excellent opportunity for community service, stations that play the drill broadcast will help provide disaster safety information to millions of people across nine states.
The drill broadcast is available in both English and Spanish on the ShakeOut website.
Audio (and web-quality video) files: http://www.shakeout.org/centralus/drill/broadcast/
High Resolution video files: http://www.shakeout.org/centralus/drill/tv/
While the best option is for you to play the recordings live and on-air, you could also host the recordings on your website and direct viewers to listen or watch them there. (To avoid bandwidth overload, please do not direct them to the files on the ShakeOut website on the day of the drill.)
If you will broadcast the audio (radio stations) or video (TV stations) recording, confirm via email to shakeout@cusec.org and you will be listed at http://www.shakeout.org/centralus/drill/broadcasters.html .
Once listed, ShakeOut participants will know where to tune at the time of the drill on February 7. You can also check out the ShakeOut News and Events Center at www.shakeout.org/centralus/news to find out what public and media events may be happening in your community.
The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut is the largest earthquake preparedness activity in the region, where millions of people participate annually in the drill. Interested citizens, schools, communities, businesses, etc. are encouraged to visit www.shakeout.org/centralus to pledge their participation in the drill. On the website, many resources are available for participants to use to plan their drills including drill manuals, videos, audio drill broadcasts, earthquake scenarios, and more.
Remember: if you have not yet done so, please sign up your media outlet as a ShakeOut participant at www.shakeout.org/centralus . As a trusted voice of the community, your team will be an essential resource following a major earthquake, and needs to practice how to be safe during one! The ShakeOut is a great time for you to test your own emergency plan or identify items in your studio or newsroom that may fall and injure someone during an earthquake.
The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut is being coordinated by the Central US Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) and its Member and Associate Member States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and dozens of other partners.
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