At 10:16 am on Thursday, October 16Mill Valley residents who haven’t heard of the Great California Shakeout might happen upon what they think is a very strange flash mob. In fact, the Shakeout is a statewide emergency preparedness exercise in which nearly 23 million people are set to participate in a massive, statewide earthquake drill.

Participants all over California will practice a “duck, cover and hold on” drill at the same time starting at 10:16 a.m. The drill involves ducking under a table or desk, covering your head and neck with your hands and holding onto the leg of the table or desk so that if the furniture moves, you move with it.

A slew of local officials, organizations and residents have already signed on to participate, including the City of Mill Valley, the Mill Valley School District, Tam High, Greenwood School, several Mill Valley businesses like the local office of Energy Investors Funds and a number of local residents. At participating stores, employees will read a public service announcement about the duck, cover and hold on drill to its shoppers at 10:16 a.m.

According to Mill Valley resident Maggie Lang, who oversees the countywide CERT program, local municipalities simply don’t have the manpower to check on everyone immediately following a large-scale disaster.

“As residents, we need to be responsible for ourselves, our families and our neighborhoods and be ready to take care of ourselves for some period of time, possibly as long as five to seven days without power,” Lang said.

Mill Valley Community Response Teams (CERT) will report to their Command Posts to practice setting up their command center and call in to public safety building for a radio check. For further information on Emergency Preparedness, click here.

People who want to participate can register at the Shakeout website – it’s open to individuals, families and larger groups like businesses and organizations.

Are you practicing in the Shakeout on October 16 in Mill Valley? Let us know in the Comments below.


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