About 21,000 Skagit County residents will practice the recommended drop-cover-hold earthquake response at 10:21 a.m. Thursday as part of the Great Washington ShakeOut.
At the same, emergency sirens within Skagit County’s tsunami risk zones are expected to sound.
The Great Washington ShakeOut is organized by state and local emergency response managers. Skagit County’s participation in the event has grown from about 7,800 residents in 2012 to about 21,000 this year.
The majority of the participants are in schools, including at Skagit Valley College and in some K-12 schools in each of the seven public school districts in the county.
Others participants include businesses, nonprofits, government offices and individuals. There’s still time to register at shakeout.org/washington.
“You could be anywhere when an earthquake strikes: at home, at work, at school or even on vacation,” the Great Washington ShakeOut website states.
Emergency responders agree that preparation is paramount to navigating a disaster.
For earthquakes, it’s important when the shaking starts to find a place to drop under sturdy furniture such as a table or desk, cover your head and hold onto your place of shelter to avoid injuries.
“Most earthquake-related injuries and deaths are caused by collapsing walls and roofs, flying glass and falling objects,” according to the Great Washington ShakeOut website.
