As the clock hit 10:20 a.m., a loud voice came over the class phone in Melissa Gonzales’ communication studies class at Cal State San Bernadino with an alert that the university was experiencing a major earthquake and all indoors should “drop, cover and hold on.”
The alert which went by office phone, emails, cell phone, texts and social media across campus and at the university’s Palm Desert Campus, was actually an exercise for the ninth annual Great California Shakeout, which is considered the world’s largest earthquake drill.
About an hour earlier, Joan Fryxell, a professor of geology at CSUSB led a group of about two dozen students, faculty, staff and visitors on a hike to the San Andreas Fault during the drill. The hikers had the rare opportunity to be able to stand on the tectonic plate boundary, one of the few places in the world where this is possible above sea level, Fryxell said.
The ShakeOut drill, which began in California in 2008, involved more than 25 million people, including more than 9 million in California. The drill was created to encourage people and organizations to be prepared in order to survive and recover when the next big earthquake happens.
The earthquake drill also serves as a reminder for individuals to review and update their emergency preparedness plans and supplies, and to secure any furnishings, fixtures and items at home and other locations to prevent damage and injuries.
Set in the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, CSUSB is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in inland Southern California. CSUSB serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.
For more information about Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.