A statewide \u201cDrop, Cover and Hold On\u201d earthquake drill takes place at 10:17 a.m. Thursday throughout Washington and neighboring states.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The exercise is part of the Great Washington ShakeOut event in which Washington will join its West Coast neighbors in Oregon, Idaho, California and British Columbia in one of the largest earthquake drills ever, according to a King County media release.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Several Kent schools are signed up for the event.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The purpose of this drill is to build \u201cmuscle memory\u201d so that when a real earthquake hits, you will automatically take appropriate action. It\u2019s also an opportunity to take at least one step to being better prepared for disasters on a personal level.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
You might locate your office emergency kit, or call\/text your out-of-area contact, or simply monitor social media for comments by others participating in the drill (Twitter #ShakeOut).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This year, more than 850,000 Washington residents have signed up to participate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n