Schools
Beverly Hills Students Drop, Cover and Hold On
The Beverly Hills Unified School District participates in the Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill.
All over the Beverly Hills Unified School District to thousands more in schools and government buildings across California Thursday, the sixth annual earthquake preparation evacuation drill known as The Great ShakeOut encouraged many to drop, cover and hold on.
More than 3.2 million people in Los Angeles County and more than 931,000 in Orange County registered to take part in the drill, which took place at 10:17 a.m. and encouraged participants to "drop, cover and hold on" as if the area was being shook by a magnitude-7.8 or larger quake.
About 9.5 million people registered to take part in the drill statewide, according to ShakeOut.org.
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At 10:17 a.m., participants were told to "drop" to the ground, take "cover" under a desk, table or other sturdy surface and "hold on" for 60 seconds, as if a major earthquake were occurring. It was the same drill for students at Horace Mann School, El Rodeo School and Beverly Hills High School.
“Our students and staff were outstanding during our Shake Out drill today," said Horace Mann School Principal Steve Kessler. "It is so important to practice our drills so that in the event of a real emergency, all of us will react in a way to insure the safety and well-being of everyone at Horace Mann."El Rodeo School Principal Dave Hoffman concurred on the success of the drill with his students.
"Every drill that occurs provides us with some useful information and ideas for improvement," he said. "The biggest improvement we noticed today was our radio communication with the Emergency Operations Command and district office personnel. Overall we're very pleased with, and very proud of our students and staff.”
- City News Service contributed to this report.
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