Safety precautions and preparations are the new cool, and more people should be excited and willing to participate.
Every year, the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Division of Emergency Management holds an annual earthquake preparation day on the third Thursday of April. This year, the drill was held April 16 around 10 a.m., but registrants were also able to participate at a different time or day if needed.
Participation was completely optional, but I found myself thinking, “Why not just take a single minute of your day to prepare yourself for a potential tragedy?”
It’s up to the individual to decide if they need to participate in drills. I didn’t even participate this year, but I would never support mandatory participation in drills. However, I do think that people should be more willing to learn basic safety precautions and procedures.
Ninety percent of Utah’s population lives in active earthquake zones, and across the entire state large earthquakes are a serious risk. For most people in Utah, it isn’t a matter of if you’ll experience an earthquake, but when.
The Intermountain Seismic Belt runs the whole length of the state, starting in northern Montana and running all the way down to the Arizona/Nevada border. It’s estimated that an earthquake of 6 magnitude or higher occurs along that belt every 15-20 years.
With those sorts of odds of experiencing an earthquake, there’s no reason not to prepare. That preparation is important for everybody, whether you’re a child or an adult. As a kid, doing regular earthquake drills in elementary school made me feel a lot more at ease than I would have been if I hadn’t gotten the chance to learn what to do in an emergency.
The last major earthquake in Utah was the Magna earthquake March 18, 2020, that hit a magnitude of 5.7, and aftershocks of 4.6 and 4.2. It’s estimated that the Magna earthquake ended up causing over $600 million in economic losses.
Even through all the economic loss, there were no fatalities or major injuries reported, but that doesn’t mean it’s OK to not be prepared. According to shakeout.org, most earthquake related injuries and deaths are caused by collapsing walls and roofs, flying glass and falling objects, and without proper training, we bring unnecessary risk to ourselves and others.
Although I’ve never experienced an earthquake, the shakeout drills give me a sense of comfort in knowing what I should do in the case of an emergency. St. George News reported in an article that last year saw over 900,000 participants in the drill, and that number makes me feel optimistic about how individuals will respond to an emergency.
Although I’m confident in people’s ability to respond in an emergency, I do feel like most people I know aren’t fully prepared for the before and after of an earthquake. The Utah government released a list of ways to prepare before an earthquake occurs.
That list includes:
- Securing top heavy furniture and heavy objects on shelves
- Storing emergency supplies in an accessible location
- Knowing emergency procedures and the location of emergency supplies like fire extinguishers
- Preparing a communication plan between family members
- Storing away 14 days worth of food and water
It can seem silly to prepare for something you’ve never experienced, but these preparations are simple and can potentially save lives. I urge everybody to take earthquake safety seriously, because at the end of the day, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
