The biggest earthquake preparedness drill in US history is set for October 21, 2010 with the staging of the Great California ShakeOut and it is expected to involve the participation of upwards of 10 million people.

1. Earthquake Preparedness And Shakeout
The biggest earthquake preparedness drill in US history is set for October 21, 2010
with the staging of the Great California ShakeOut and it is expected to involve the
participation of upwards of 10 million people.
The purpose of the exercise, which is now in its third year, is to raise awareness of
earthquake preparedness.
Businesses across the Golden State, along with schools, government agencies and
the community in general will all stop what they’re doing at 10:21am on 10/21 to
‘Drop, Cover and Hold On’.
Also part of this year’s ShakeOut theme is the important ‘Secure Your Space’
message.
You can get more information about what’s planned, as well as sign up your own
business to participate, at http://www.shakeout.org
Secure Your Space
From a business standpoint, securing items in data centers, server rooms,
warehouses and offices is probably one of the most crucial programs you can
undertake if your operations are in an earthquake zone.
Many businesses have done little, if anything, about getting prepared and that lack
of action could come back to haunt them.
We say that because the most recent studies have shown that the vast majority of
businesses in California have done precious little in the way of getting themselves
prepared for an earthquake and when the big one comes, which it will, they could be
left ruing their inaction.
You see, here’s what happens during earthquakes. The tall, top-heavy things that
aren’t secured topple over and crash to the floor. The same can happen to unsecured
desktop appliances and equipment. So you can imagine what might happen to a
business if, for example, its servers are rendered useless, or expensive equipment in
the clean room gets smashed, or its CPUs end up in pieces on the floor.
Just one of those incidents on its own could knock a business offline at least
temporarily, but when combined a business would be crippled, which is precisely why
it is so critical for a business to undertake non-structural seismic mitigation.
And it’s not just California where businesses have been lackadaisical about
preparedness. Similar data suggests the Pacific Northwest and the central US fall into
a similar category.
Recognizing that, authorities in Washington State conducted their own ‘Big Rumble
2010’ disaster preparedness exercise in Kitsap County and their counterparts in the
central part of the country are planning the first ‘Great Central US ShakeOut’ for
April 28, 2011.
Equipment Fastening
While ShakeOut is expected to draw widespread attention to earthquake
preparedness and hopefully encourage more businesses in California to take it more

2. seriously, you might be one of those owners wondering just what you should be
doing to get your business prepared for an earthquake.
To start with, you could consider utilizing seismic protection products and services
such as those offered by QuakeHOLD! Industrial.
Our expertise encompasses floor fastening systems, lab equipment fastening and
countertop fasteners.
Depending on the size and type of items to be secured, we use a variety of fastening
methods.
Some examples - for free standing items we might use a four-corner system of
industrial strength straps and floor anchors, flexible straps and quick release buckles
for countertop items, and netting to secure loose items on a rack.
There is much more information on the various fastening systems that we have
developed on our website www.quakeholdindustrial.com
Risk Assessment
To help figure out our solutions for your needs you can contact us to schedule a risk
assessment of your premises.
As we’ve been reminding you repeatedly during the past few months, if you run a
business in a seismically active zone, you need to become pro-active about
earthquake preparedness and we suggest that you should start today.