Santa Monica College to Host 2022 Great ShakeOut SoCal Earthquake Drill and Media Event

MEDIA ADVISORY

Santa Monica College to Host 2022 Great ShakeOut SoCal Earthquake Drill and Media Event

Santa Monica, CA — With the risk of a “Big One'' occurring anytime, earthquake preparedness is essential for California residents and organizations. This is why Santa Monica College will host a 2022 Great ShakeOut Full-Scale Exercise in partnership with Earthquake Country Alliance Southern California and local emergency response teams, with on-site interview opportunities beginning at 4 a.m., including within the Ready America “Big Shaker” earthquake simulator. Santa Monica College is one of the first educational institutions to implement ShakeAlert® Earthquake Early Warning and has been selected as this year’s ShakeOut media event host to be a model institution for earthquake preparedness and resiliency.

Frequent drills are key to a robust earthquake preparedness plan. Drills allow people and organizations to assess how well things would operate and presents the opportunity to correct any problems before the occurrence of a major earthquake.

At approximately 10:20 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, Santa Monica College will trigger a test of the ShakeAlert® Earthquake Early Warning campus-wide — a mass notification that an earthquake is occurring, expect shaking, and drop, cover and hold on. The alert will be heard across campus through the Santa Monica College public address system. The scenario is a hypothetical magnitude 6.7 earthquake rupturing the Hollywood Fault near Hollywood which produces intensity Level VI shaking on campus, resulting in moderate shaking and damage. Several areas of Santa Monica College campus will have suffered damage including the Student Services Center where several students are injured or need assistance.

Groups responding to aid in simulated rescue and support efforts will include the Santa Monica College Emergency Operations Team, Building Monitors, and CERT Community response team. These groups will set up their command center outside of the Student Services Building, including a triage area. They will also be testing various response tools and their communication efforts. Verizon will also be setting up their communications truck which would provide communications for students, faculty and the neighboring community during a disaster with loss of electricity and cell phone service.

MEDIA ADVISORY—FOR DAY OF COVERAGE

What:     Earthquake Country Alliance is partnering with Santa Monica College which is hosting Southern California’s primary ShakeOut earthquake exercise and media event featuring an earthquake drill with response teams, moulage victims, triage, ReadyAmerica “Big Shaker” simulator, press conference, subject matter experts for interviews and preparedness resource booths.

When:    The event will include the following activities:

3:30 am - Media trucks start to arrive

4:00 am – 12pm    Media opportunities with the Ready America’s “Big Shaker” earthquake simulator and demonstrations of the “Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety”, Subject Matter Experts and student victim moulage will be available.

NOTE:  To schedule interviews in the “Big Shaker” earthquake, media are required to RSVP in advance to Marilyn Jimenez Davila (marilyn.jimenez@redcoss.org 310-367-2390) to schedule a time to film between 4:00am and 11:45am.

The BigShaker will also be open to the public on campus for students and staff to practice “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.”

9:30 – 10:05 am  Press conference with invited guest speakers:  Sean Inoue, Executive Director, Western LA Chapter Red Cross; Veronica Verde, FEMA Region IX, Jose Lara, California Office of Emergency Services Hazards Branch; Chief Johnnie Adams, Santa Monica College Police Chief, Don Alvarez, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mark Benthien, Executive Director, Earthquake Country Alliance. A full list of organizational leaders and experts available throughout the morning will be provided onsite.

10:20 -21am  A hypothetical 6.7 magnitude earthquake strikes on the Hollywood Fault resulting in intensity level VI shaking at Santa Monica College and triggering  ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning; students, faculty and guests will then practice “Drop, Cover and Hold On” or “Lock, Cover, and Hold On.”  Buildings will then be evacuated.

10:22 – 12 noon  The continuing exercise features Santa Monica College’s Emergency Management Team and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) conducting search and rescue operations of simulated trapped or injured drill participants, and establishing Command Center and Triage operations set up outside of the Student Services Building. Santa Monica College will also test their building monitor response teams and full campus emergency management response, including tests of various response tools and communication protocols. Verizon’s communications truck will be onsite which would provide communications for students, faculty and the community during a disaster with loss of electricity and cell phone service. 

12 noon – 1pm  Resource activities and expert interviews for students, faculty and college personnel will continue as needed.

Where:  Santa Monica College Student Services Mall, 1900 S. Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA

Parking

Satellite vans and trucks will need to park on the east side of Student Services Building where drill will be happening.  Entrance is on Pearl Street (south side of campus) just west of 20th street.  Pull into the driveway off Pearl Street just West of 20th and follow the signs to media parking. Passenger vehicles will also use this same parking access but will park in the underground parking. (see campus map)

About the Great California ShakeOut

The Great California ShakeOut is an annual statewide event that provides organizations, schools, businesses, government offices and agencies, first responders, emergency managers and the general public the opportunity to practice self-protective actions such as “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” and “Lock, Cover, and Hold On” (for those using wheeled mobility devices) when we feel shaking or get an alert, and to initiate or review earthquake emergency plans and preparations. The event was created in 2008 by the Earthquake Country Alliance and its many partner organizations with administration by the Southern California Earthquake Center at USC.

“Santa Monica College has been a participant in the Great ShakeOut since the first one in 2008 and is a perfect example of the ShakeOut message for everyone to take action and improve their earthquake resilience,” said SMC Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffrey.  “The college is continually providing a safer place for their academic community and has set the bar for others.” 

About Santa Monica College

Santa Monica College is a California Community College accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). For 31 consecutive years, SMC has been California’s leading transfer college to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and other University of California campuses. The college also tops in transfers to the University of Southern California and Loyola Marymount University and is the top feeder west of the Mississippi to the Ivy League Columbia University; it is the leading job trainer on Los Angeles’s Westside with more than 110 career training degrees and certificates. The college serves more than 27,000 students  across its main campus and five satellite campuses. Under the leadership of Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery, Santa Monica College’s Chief of Police and Safety Services, Johnnie Adams has advanced Santa Monica College’s safety efforts during his tenure including leading their earthquake preparedness measures. For more information, visit www.smc.edu

“Santa Monica College has been a participant in the Great ShakeOut since the initial event in 2008 and is a perfect example of the ShakeOut message for everyone to take action and improve their earthquake resilience,” said SMC Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery. “The college is continually providing a safer place for their academic community and has set the bar for others.”

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Media Contacts:  

Grace Smith  310-227-4542, Smith_grace@smc.edu

Director of Public Information, Santa Monica College

Marilyn Jimenez Davila  310-367-2390, Marilyn.jimenez@redcross.org

American Red Cross Los Angeles & ECA SoCal Media Bureau Coordinator

Margaret Vinci  626-840-3005, vinci@caltech.edu

Caltech Earthquake Programs Manager & ECA SoCal Co-Chair