The Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill — how to prepare for and protect yourself during a quake

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — The annual earthquake drill known as “The Great Shakeout” was held across eight southeastern states Thursday morning.

To coincide with the October 19th date, the earthquake drill took place at exactly 10:19 a.m.

As the mock announcement was made over the radio, members of the SC Emergency Management Division and over 320,000 participants statewide took part by practicing what to do during an earthquake.

Officials say if you’re indoors, the first thing you should do is drop, cover your head and neck, get under a table or desk, and hold on until the shaking stops.

If you’re in a high rise building, move against an interior wall if possible and don’t use elevators. If you’re outdoors, move away from trees, buildings, and powerlines. And if you’re driving, pull over –avoiding overpasses, and stay inside your vehicle until the shaking stops.

SC EMD’s Director Kim Stenson says South Carolina is extremely vulnerable to earthquake activity, and identifying hazards ahead of time can reduce the possibility of injury or death.

“Actions you should consider taking now include looking for ways to secure your furniture and belongings, check your insurance policies — typical homeowners policies do not cover earthquake damage — practice “Drop, cover, and hold on,” and establish a disaster supply kit that would be self sufficient enough for three days and would include food, water, flashlights, and a battery operated radio,” says Stenson.

And what about the slew of earthquakes in the Elgin area that have occurred over the past two years?

State Geologist Scott Howard says his team has identified a large fault structure in the Elgin area — but why there was a swarm of quakes and if they’ll happen again — remains unanswered.

“So if the layers of the rocks are extensive in a northeast/southwest direction, at some point millions of years ago, it got folded, and a ‘Z’ structure resulted out of it. And this big ‘Z’ — at the nose of the ‘Z’ — that’s where these faults that we see in the Piedmonts that we can actually map are breaking out into small dislocations. Well this one’s just a bigger dislocation, because it’s a bigger structure,” says Howard.

SC EMD reports that 14 low magnitude earthquakes have been reported in South Carolina since January — with the state experiencing an average of 10 to 20 quakes each year.