On October 18, 2012, more than 1.8 million people participated in the first ever Great SouthEast ShakeOut. This included participants in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, who were joining Maryland and the District of Columbia in this historic earthquake preparedness campaign. During the drill, participants practiced “Drop, Cover, and Hold On“, the recommended action to take when an earthquake occurs.
The SouthEast ShakeOut occurred at the same time as other ShakeOut drills across the nation. Drills were held in California, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam, Puerto Rico, and British Columbia. In all, more than 14.5 million people participated at various ShakeOut regions worldwide, making this the largest earthquake/safety drill ever held. Media coverage of ShakeOut activities has been extensive and shows the broad range of drills that were held by schools, organizations, government agencies, and households. The SouthEast ShakeOut was centrally coordinated by CUSEC, the participating State Emergency Management Agencies, FEMA, and dozens of other partners.
Congratulations to all ShakeOut partnering states and participants for making this drill a success and engaging millions of people in earthquake preparedness activities!
