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Over the past few weeks earthquakes have been more of a part of people’s daily lives, in places like New Zealand and also central Arkansas. KSMU’s Adam Hammons reports on how schools are spreading awareness for earthquake safety.
Last month was earthquake awareness month in Missouri in memory of powerful 7.0 magnitude quakes back in the winter of 1811. The month also saw several earthquakes in New Zealand that destroyed a major city. Arkansas was also hit by many throughout the month with the highest at a magnitude of four-point-one.With the threat of earthquakes, schools and other organizations in Missouri and ten other states will take part in the first ever “Great Central U.S. Shakeout.” This region-wide earthquake drill will be held on Thursday, April 28 at 10:15 a.m. One of the schools taking part in this drill is Missouri State University-West Plains. John Fohn is an associate professor of geography and geology for the university. He explains why the school decided to take part. “Well I think it’s because we recognized that this is a real risk and that we want to prepare our students for the inevitability of an earthquake that could be quite serious.”
Fohn says emergency sheets are placed in every room on campus that give directions on how to respond during an earthquake.
As a part of the drill, participants will drop, cover, and hold on to something for 60 seconds. Experts believe this is the best way of protection. This is because in the U.S., the primary danger would be falling objects and not structural collapse. According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, as of February 28, more than 100 Missouri school districts and individual schools have registered to take part in the drill. To check if your school will be taking part, go to
http://www.shakeout.org/centralus/state_participants.php?state=MO
For KSMU News, I’m Adam Hammons.
