Southern California was rocked yesterday by a very large earthquake "simulation". There was no real ground shaking going on, but to thousands across Southern California they acted like it had really happened and in epic Hollywood fashion.
The disaster preparedness plan which was implemented at 10 a.m. was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and simulated a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck through the San Andreas Fault which slipped about 30 feet at Bombay Beach, just northeast of the Salton Sea, and rumbled along about 200 miles of the fault.
Officially known as the Great Southern California ShakeOut the simulation was to be equivalent to that of the earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906.
Approximately 5 million people were expected to participate in the practice simulation yesterday morning which was the largest earthquake preparation drill ever done in the U.S. From schools to high-rise office buildings people practiced ducking under their desks while urban rescue teams extricated victims from buildings, and even the Red Cross set up shelters in and around the Southland.
Although the success of the drill will not be known for a day or two, it seems to have gone off very well, simulated rattled nerves and all.