Notes from the ShakeOut

If the Big One ever does strike Southern California (and yeah, I know scientists say it will happen in the next 30 years) I would like to ride it out at Caltech. In fact, if I am in the newsroom (which is a 10 minute walk away) I will be tempted to go there for the following reasons:

1) they have generators
2) they have satellite phones and internet, and will be able to communicate with outside world
3) they have an actual emergency medical plan in place involving trained first responder students.

I, on the other hand, am about the worst prepared person on earth. No extra water, food, no fire extinguisher. I don't even usually have cash on hand to buy any of these things, should ATMs and banks cease to function.

- I had my doubts about whether a room full of seismologists were actually going to get under the table. I thought maybe they would leave that for the larger masses of untrained people. They sure did get under there. Several times, in fact, to account for aftershocks. There were even sound effects.

-I'd rather not be in a crowded room of people during an earthquake. There was no extra table space for me.

-The TV reporters at Caltech asked questions with such intensity I was wondering whether they realized the earthquake was a drill. They would ask questions like "How many homes lost power? Do you have any preliminary estimates on the size of the earthquake?" in the present tense, as opposed to "How many homes would lose power in a quake like the one in this scenario."

-I was impressed by the dedication of some of the student volunteer victims. One of them burst into such a convincing set of tears that a concerned medic asked whether she was acting or not.