Californians participated in an annual fake earthquake that sent millions in search of cover -- an opportunity to practice what quake experts have been teaching.
Link: ShakeOut Earthquake Drills
The yearly drill known as the Great Shakeout began in 2008. Schools and universities account for most of the participants in the simultaneous disaster drill that has also begun to spread beyond the state.
More than 10 million Californians particpated in the 10:15 a.m. event.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 40 million people from 60 countries around the world are were expected to participate in earthquake drills. In Los Angeles County, nearly 3.5 million people registered to take part in the "Great California ShakeOut and nearly 1 million in Orange County, according to ShakeOut.org.
For many, the exercise just consists of dropping and covering under desks as generations of California schoolchildren have done. But the Great Shakeout is designed to simulate more coordinated and widespread action.
On some school campuses, students act out roles as earthquake victims, as health care professionals assess and treat them, setting up a triage area and assigning them different levels of injuries. Organizers have carried out similar exercises at train stations and hospitals.
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Participants are also asked to look around during the drill and envision what might be occurring in an actual quake -- what objects might be falling, what damage could be occurring and will there be a way to escape the area afterward.
U.S. Geological Survey officials said that people who are outdoors should move to a "clear and open" area, avoiding power lines, trees, signs, buildings and other items that can fall. Motorists should pull to the side of the road and set the parking brake -- but not beneath bridges, power lines or traffic signs.
Californians should be prepared to be self-sufficient for 72 hours following an earthquake or other major disaster, officials say. That includes having a first-aid kit, medications, food and enough water for each member of a household to drink one gallon per day for at least 72 hours, according to local and state officials.
Homeowners and renters should also know how to turn off the gas in their house or apartment in case of leaks.
The drill seeks to prepare Californians for the sort of devastating quake California hasn't seen in more than two decades. The last was the 1994 Northridge disaster that killed 60 people and injured more than 7,000 in metropolitan Los Angeles.
In Northern California in 1989, a magnitude-6.9 earthquake in the San Francisco Bay region killed 63 people, injured nearly 3,800 and caused up to $10 billion in damage.
